


Executive Orders

by SmartyCat



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: F/M, Humor, Romance, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-03-02
Updated: 2004-03-02
Packaged: 2017-10-29 16:41:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 36,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/321970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmartyCat/pseuds/SmartyCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Out of Control's sequel. There comes a time in every young stud's life when he has to be broken in. That time has come for Heero Yuy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Longing

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the lemony sequel to Out of Control. It isn't absolutely necessary to have read OoC first, but it might be helpful.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Relena thinks about Heero and catches her personal assistant in a rather compromising position. Also affectionately known as Relena on a Manhunt with Whip. No lemon yet though.

She missed him. It was as simple as that. She missed his rough hands stroking gently along her skin, she missed the soft tickling of his hair on her face, she missed his passion darkened eyes, she missed the warm weight of his body, she missed the hot demand of his mouth over hers . . .

"Damn it!"

The riding crop in her hand struck her leg with surprising force, and a sheen of tears blanketed her eyes. The young blonde shifted the crop to her other hand and gingerly rubbed the tender spot on her thigh as she leaned against the rough brick of the palace wall.

She had to stop thinking about him. The daydreams were wonderful while they lasted, but they invariably faded, leaving her feeling empty and stranded in reality. Unfortunately the longing images would always hit at the most inopportune times, usually when she had been seated in a meeting for several hours.  
 _  
Can't blame a girl for fantasizing when there's nothing but stuffy old men around.  
_  
Such incidents usually led to a severely flustered Vice-Foreign Minister and a drastically shortened meeting. The other delegates, mostly older men, were baffled by her sudden mood swings and readily agreed to adjourn the council. The few other females on the council were a completely different matter. They looked at the pretty young diplomat with knowing eyes and sly grins. The escort service business card that had been discreetly slipped into her hand had been the final straw. Relena had fled in embarrassment to the palace stables and taken one of the horses out for a hard run.  
 _  
Oh yeah, ride that stallion, princess. It's just a pity he's not the right one.  
_  
To further complicate matters, Relena was incredibly afraid that she was losing her mind. No one had yet gathered the courage to comment on the books about schizophrenia littering her office, but it was only a matter of time before the staff's collective curiosity became too much to bear. And she had absolutely no idea what kind of answer she would give them.

Some part of her, the part that the voice originated from no doubt, found the entire situation hilarious. It was all Heero's fault of course. He had just disappeared from the hospital after the Eve War, and she had not heard of him since. That one encounter on Libra really should not have had such a strong effect on her, but three years of repressed sexuality were bound to drive nearly anyone insane.

"Where has my self-control gone? I want it back, Heero."

Relena pushed off from the wall and raked one hand through her ponytail, catching the silk ribbon in her fingers and pulling her hair free of its confinement. She bent over and shook her head vigorously, completely unmindful of the passing Preventer who stumbled against the opposite wall at the sight of her breeches tightening over her derriere.

What had possessed her to go riding anyway? The powerful muscles rippling between her legs and rhythmic motion of the galloping stallion had done nothing to ease her condition. It had only aggravated and intensified it, bringing to mind even more vivid and tantalizing memories of that brief incident when she was fifteen and that ridiculous notion she had had that there would be another time.  
 _  
Sex really does change everything, doesn't it? It's turned you into a raging closet nympho.  
_  
She crushed the ribbon in her hand and resumed her stiff stalk to her office.

"Heero, where are you? You're going to pay for doing this to me."

* * *

The door flew open with a bang, startling the bespectacled blond intern and admitting a luminous, scowling goddess. With her tousled hair flowing in a golden cape down her back, wonderfully skintight and slightly damp riding clothes, flushed features, glittering eyes, and the oddly delicate way she was walking, it was no wonder that young personal assistant Ben Johnson thought that his fantasies had come to life when Relena burst through the door.

"Ben! I want the papers for the Svengali deal on my . . . what are you **doing**?"

As all the blood in his body was currently rushing to a place other than his brain, Ben's thought processes took longer than usual to formulate an answer. He stared at her in dazed, drooling abandon for several long moments before he became aware of what exactly was going on behind him. Then he whirled and lunged for the vidscreen in horror. Unfortunately the heady combination of fear and hormones had completely blanked his memory, and he could not locate the power switch. He did however manage to find the volume control.

Relena's gaze remained firmly focused on the monitor, ignoring both her glorified secretary's contortions as he tried to hide the images with his body and the gasps and cries of pleasure that suddenly filled the room.

Her eyes glazed over as she mumbled to herself, "That . . . isn't me, is it?" She shook off her stunned stupor. "No, of course not, it couldn't be . . . but **you** have some explaining to do!"

The unfortunate, flustered young man quailed under her fierce stare and turned a vibrant red as one of the figures behind him let out a particularly lusty moan.

"Ohhhhh, Relena!"

The real Vice-Foreign Minister tapped her foot impatiently, glaring at her assistant. "I'm waiting, Benjamin."

"I . . . that is . . . well . . . um . . . bad habit?"

She smiled coldly. "Smoking is a bad habit. Biting your fingernails is a bad habit. Watching porn portraying your boss during work hours is not a bad habit!"

He cringed as her voice rose to an indignant roar. "No, ma'am . . . uh, yes ma'am! You're absolutely right, Miss Relena!"

"How very kind of you to agree with me. Now if you'll just turn-"

"Oooooh, you're my hero!"  
 _  
Now **that's** a low blow.  
_  
Relena flinched violently at the feminine shriek. Ben noted the tense set of her jaw and narrowing eyes with trepidation. She pulled him aside with exaggerated calm, and he watched in bewildered amazement as her face suddenly paled before being suffused with color when she got her first unobstructed view of the screen.

"Who exactly is my . . . partner supposed to be?" she inquired in a strangled tone.

"Well, Miss Relena, I don't really pay all that much attention to the men . . . "

"Benjamin Kyle! "

There was a distinct warning running through her tone, and the use of the dreaded middle name in conjunction with the idle tapping of the riding crop against her boot top left him torn between throwing himself at her feet and bolting for the door. Her intense gaze was noticeably predatory as she stared at the screen, and although he had finally located the power switch, he feared she would attack him if he moved toward it. He would have found her behavior quite sexy if he had not been terrified of losing his extremely coveted and well paying position.

"I don't know! It's part of a series!"

"A series?"

"Yes. It's volume six of _Call Me Queen: Sexy Preventer Commander Relena_."

A muscle near her left eye twitched, but her voice remained remarkably flat. "I'm not the commander of the Preventers. Une is."

"That's not the point. The series is about you . . . um . . . being . . . with various Preventers."

Relena inclined her head at the screen as she queried, "And that person is?"

"An actor." Her facial muscles tightened, and Ben backed away quickly, making appeasing motions. "Supposedly he bears a resemblance to a real Preventer the producers thought was attractive."

"I see." Relena studied the shaggy dark brown hair and vaguely Asian features of the man . . . interacting quite vigorously with her buxom counterpart.  
 _  
What's the matter? Too pure and chaste to say f-  
_  
Relena snarled mentally at the voice's mocking tone.  
 _  
Grouchy! Someone needs a good lay, but . . . it's very . . . interesting, isn't it?  
_  
Indeed. Intriguing and more than a little suspicious. A tiny smile curled her lips as she turned back to her still uneasy assistant. "So all of this is supposedly based on real people?"

"Um . . . yes?" Ben hazarded, perplexed at the sudden calm, almost cheerful expression his previously irate boss was showing.

"Is there one with Chang Wufei by any chance?" she asked, her voice oddly strangled.

"Yes, it's actually quite a good bondage-"  
 _  
My, you **do** get around.  
_  
Her sudden laughter cut him off mid-sentence, and she collapsed into one of the guest chairs. Ben eased away from his position against the wall and peered at her nervously.

"Miss Relena, are you okay?"

She glanced up at him from beneath her bangs, her eyes glittering brightly. "Stop this one." She smiled. "I want to watch it from the beginning."

His jaw dropped, and his voice cracked as he yelped, " **Really?** "

She could not help chuckling at his disbelieving but oddly hopeful tone and nodded.

"Miss Relena, are you sure you want to do this? It might be a little upsetting to you." He stood in front of her nervously, his hands twisting the material of his pants.  
 _  
Typical male. Can't wait to get his off so that he can hop into yours.  
_  
Relena smiled charmingly as she rose from the chair. She grabbed his hands, stilling their restless movements, and stepped closer to him, angling her head so that her breath spilled across his face and softly misted his glasses. "Oh, I'm quite sure. I'm very interested in what you do with your free time." Both her smile and her grip hardened at the look of eager anticipation that appeared on his face. "Especially when it seems to involve me. You do realize that this incident in no way changes our relationship? **At all**."

Suddenly fearing for his position once again, Ben gulped and nodded hastily as he struggled out of her grasp. Relena calmly strolled across the room and commandeered his desk chair while he busily ensured that no one could enter the office. He returned and sat as far away from her as possible as the disk flashed back to the beginning.

After several minutes of badly contrived and horribly acted foreplay, Relena began idly spinning back and forth, dividing her attention between the couple onscreen and her babbling, fidgeting assistant. The two actors came together in carnal embrace after carnal embrace, and Relena watched them with a sort of amused horror while Ben stared fixedly at the screen in mortified longing. Afraid to enjoy himself with his employer seated primly beside him, he wriggled uncomfortably and made occasional whimpering noises while a dark blush stained his cheeks.

Relena leaned back with a wry smile as the disk finally came to an end. "Well, that was quite an . . . educational experience."  
 _  
Now for some field research and hands on practice.  
_  
She smirked and stretched before turning to her frozen assistant. "Ben. Benjamin! You are not to ever engage in such activities during work hours again. What you do in your own home, however, is no concern of mine as long as it doesn't pose a threat to peace. And I would prefer it if you refrained from viewing any titles with 'me' in a starring role."

He nodded numbly and refused to look at her, closing his eyes when she stepped in front of the vidscreen.

"I'll just take this with me. Good day, Ben. And for goodness sake, go do something about that. You never know when someone important might come in."

She breezed out the office door, clutching the tiny videodisk. A small grin hovered on her face as she strode down the hallway cheerfully swinging her riding crop.  
 _  
To the Preventers!  
_  
"Attractive Preventer, huh? Just a coincidence right? Nothing's ever a coincidence with him. Oh, Heero, Heero, Heero, come out, come out wherever you are!"  
 _  
But first . . . fresh panties._


	2. Want

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still not to the lemon yet. But isn't this fun? In which Relena has a little chat with a dragon and confronts her prey. And who would have thought Wufei had it in him . . .

"I hope I have everything I need."

Relena took one final cursory look around her suite of rooms before swinging a large bag over her shoulder. She smoothed one hand down the crisp, clean riding jacket she had donned after her bath and grabbed her riding crop from the dresser top.

 __

 _One must keep up appearances after all._

She smiled darkly and stepped out the door, swinging the crop up and lightly brushing it across the precious paper in her breast pocket.

It had been remarkably easy to pull rank and demand access to the records of Preventer recruits and officers. Relena had to hand it to adult filmmakers everywhere. There were certainly some extremely attractive men on the force, and if she had been that kind of girl she would hardly have minded playing with them a bit. However, she was dedicated to her causes, even the reluctant human ones, and there had been one profile in particular that intrigued her.

Agent Hiroshi Yugen, codename Preventer Phoenix.

Who just happened to bear a remarkable resemblance to a certain Gundam pilot.

He was one of the younger recruits, but he had risen quickly through the ranks and obtained a position as Head of Security in Building C, a position that came with a private office. In addition, according to the Preventer database, that private office had been soundproofed to prevent the results of his enthusiastic interrogations from disturbing the rest of the staff.

Relena's smile widened.

 __

 _How very convenient._

But there were still other precautions that had to be taken, and to accomplish those she would have to enter the Dragon's lair.

* * *

The young Chinese man stared at her coolly when she appeared in his doorway. After a moment he inclined his head in acknowledgement.

"Darlian."

"Chang," she answered him equally coolly.

"Why are you here?" he demanded, as abrupt and to the point as ever.

Relena took that as permission to enter, ignoring his annoyed frown and closing the door firmly behind her. She gazed around the Director of Palace Security's office with veiled curiosity as she carefully picked her way to his desk. A strange blend of modern technology and ancient weaponry spilled across the room in what appeared to be merely random clutter, but careful observation revealed a setup designed to ward away unwanted guests.

Relena flashed him her best politician's smile as she cleared a chair of its haphazard pile of books. "I have a favor to ask of you, Wufei."

"You're putting those back before you leave, and I don't give favors."

"I'm sure just this once won't hurt you, and since it regards something of a delicate nature I'd rather not use my authority and command you. You'll make things easier for both of us if you do it of your own free will."

His eyes narrowed as he focused on her with more interest. "Why the subterfuge?"

"It could be damaging."

His eyebrows rose. "Really?"

Relena nodded and pulled the profile sheet from her pocket, unfolding it and sliding it across his desk.

"I'm rather offended that no one told me that Heero worked here. He's been right under my nose, and I didn't even know it."

Wufei glanced at the sheet with its blurry picture of a scowling dark-haired man and muttered something Relena did not quite catch about idiots who refused to dye their hair and make a decent name change before glaring at her.

"Yuy is a distraction to you," he snapped, his voice harsh and clipped.

Relena planted her hands firmly on the desk as she hissed back, "You're damn right he is. I've been distracted wanting to know where the hell he is!"

Wufei slammed his own hands down and leaned over until they were nose to nose. Furious blue eyes glared into sharp black as he said dangerously, "Let me phrase it another way. It is my job to protect you, both your body and your reputation, even from yourself if necessary, and no one can be sure how the public will react if you get yourself knocked up by some no-account soldier out of wedlock!"

 __

 _He's shockingly perceptive._

Relena sniffed and turned her profile to him. "Who said anything about getting knocked up?"

"How ignorant to you think I am?"

"When it comes to women? Do you really want me to answer that?" she countered archly.

"Sally agrees with me."

Relena snorted. "Well, now I know who was sabotaging those publicity stunt dates three months ago. No wonder you're acting so intelligent and mother-hennish then." She widened her eyes imploringly. "Even if I did get pregnant, the public would probably think it's horribly romantic and write books and make daytime television specials about it. Please, Wufei? One favor?"

He sighed and pulled away. "What do you want?"

Relena gestured at the wall of security screens to his right. "Is there a camera in Heero's office?"

"Of course."

"I want it to be turned off for one hour. I want no record of my visit with him to exist, and I want any recordings of this conversation to disappear."

He folded his arms and narrowed his eyes as he studied her. "What exactly are you planning?"

Relena tossed her hair over her shoulder and stared at him imperiously. "To have lunch. To not get 'knocked up' as you so delicately phrased it."

One black eyebrow arched sardonically. "You're on birth control then?"

"Pig!" Relena snarled and began to stalk for the door.

"Relena, stop."

"Yes! Yes, I'm on birth control!" She whirled around. "Are you going to help me or not?"

He cocked his head to one side and smiled slightly. "I'll give you one favor, but you asked for two. What do I get out of this?"

Relena eyed him warily. "It depends."

"What if I want to watch?" He gazed at her, challenging her, challenging her actions, challenging her resolve. And they both knew it.

A smirk slowly spread across Relena's face. "You know, Wufei, it's funny you should mention that . . ."

He caught the videodisk that came hurtling at his face only inches from his nose and looked at her curiously over its bright plastic case. Relena smiled back at him, a cold baring of teeth, as she opened his door.

"Just see to it that the camera is off."

And she left, slamming the door behind her, only to proceed three steps down the hallway before Wufei's hand grabbed her wrist and jerked her backwards into his chest. She struggled futilely as he spun her around.

"Let go! What do you think you're **doing**?"

"You forgot my books, but I'll collect on them later." He shot her an absolutely wicked grin and forced something cold and metallic into her hand. "You'll need these."

Then he was gone, his door shutting firmly behind him, followed by the distinctive sound of the lock turning, leaving Relena alone staring down disbelievingly at the handcuffs resting on her palm.

* * *

"Preventer Phoenix?"

The young man grunted noncommittally at the female voice that followed the soft tap at his door, not bothering to look up from his computer screen.

The door shut with a soft click, and approaching footsteps sounded softly against the thick carpeting of his otherwise Spartan office. "I'd like to discuss the possible installation of extra security cameras around the complex."

Another grunt. The soft thump of a full bag being dropped covered the sound of the door locking.

"Especially in the Vice-Foreign Minister's office."

Preventer Phoenix's back and shoulders stiffened abruptly, and his fingers stilled on the keyboard.

"And I think they should feed directly into your office, Heero . . ."

He turned around extremely slowly as the familiar voice sent waves of recognition rolling though his mind, and his eyes widened even farther as they took in Relena's clinging riding habit, boots, and crop.

"So you can see exactly what you're making me do to myself-" Her name escaped him with a startled gasp as her voice rose higher, "-instead of what you should be doing to me!"

His brow furrowed, and he began to rise from his chair, although the shock of seeing her appeared to have adversely affected his balance. The normally composed and collected Gundam pilot trembled, and his hands clung tight to the edges of his desk as he used it as a brace to pull himself up.

Relena strode around to his side and stood over him. "Oh, no, don't bother to get up. I like you just where you are."

Heero continued to struggle to his feet.

"That was an order, Preventer." Her voice was clipped and icy, her eyes hard blue jewels as she stared him down.

Heero sat back slowly, his hands clenching the armrests of his chair with a white-knuckled grip, but he met her gaze evenly, and his voice was calm as he asked, "What are you doing here?"

 __

 _I wonder if such blunt rudeness is a male thing or just a Gundam pilot thing?_

She snorted and said mockingly, "I thought I had made it obvious. Imagine my surprise when I found out I'd hired you without knowing it. I suppose I shall have to start paying better attention to the recruit applications I approve. Anyway, I thought I should come say hello. Hello, Heero. How have you been? Did you miss me? Do you ever think about me?"

Heero jerked, nearly tipping over his chair and slamming his shin into the desk as Relena approached with a predatory glide.

"Goodness, Heero! That sounded painful. Would you like for me to kiss it and make it better?"

 __

 _Say yes, say yes, say yes, say yes, say yes!_

"That won't be necessary."

 __

 _You idiot._

Heero glared at her where she leaned on one hip against his desktop, idly fingering the red ribbon in her hair.

"I think you should go. I have work to do."

She smiled. "I'm sure you do, but I'm not leaving."

"Relena, get out."

Her eyes narrowed as she swept her riding crop under his chin, forcing his head up and baring his throat as she straightened to loom over him.

"Heero, I think you've forgotten who your superior is. You answer to me. I hired you, I pay your salary, and you will obey **my** orders!"

His face grew tight, and he stared at her impassively from his distinctly vulnerable position. Relena stared back evenly, hiding the building waves of panic behind a carefully composed facade. This wasn't how it was supposed to be! Where was all the pent-up passion, all the ravishing?

 __

 _Heero obviously hasn't seen that particular video._

Relena nonchalantly pulled away with a light tap to his cheek and strolled around to the opposite side of his desk to give herself time to think. She had never considered that he might not want to see her as much as she wanted to see him.

How was she going to fix this?

Guilt?

Diplomacy?

Apparent indifference?

All out assault?

 __

 _Assault worked remarkably well when you tried it before._

Relena whirled suddenly, slamming her hands down on his desk, and leaned forward over her braced arms. She allowed her hair to fall forward over her face as she whispered softly, "It would have been nice to know that you were a Preventer now, Heero. We might not have been close friends, but we did have a history together. I do like to occasionally know how you are."

Heero remained impassive as she peeked up at him, and Relena sighed inwardly, her shoulders drooping.

 __

 _Typical really. I knew guilt wouldn't work. Oh well, time to drag out the big guns and move on to Plan B._

It was a good thing that Wufei had given her those handcuffs. She made a mental note to give him a nice bonus in thanks. Now to just get them on Heero . . .

She straightened with exaggerated slowness, and raised limpid eyes to Heero's stony face. She smiled at him tremulously as she backed away.

"Good day, Heero. I'm sorry I bothered you. It won't happen again."

A flicker of emotion passed over his face as she spun on her heel and went to collect her bag. She had only gotten a few paces when she abruptly fell to the floor with a muffled curse. Heero frowned and stood up to peer over his desk to where Relena appeared to be frantically scrabbling for something among the carpeting.

"Relena, what are you doing?"

"Looking for my contact!" came the broken reply.

Heero blinked in surprise. He had not known that she wore contacts and felt oddly betrayed as he wondered if the intense sea blue of her eyes was natural. With a weary sigh he walked around to stand over her hunched form. He did not dare offer to help her in her search. Just watching her breaches hug her curves as her rear swayed in the air was nearly too much for him. Putting himself in close proximity would almost certainly annihilate his self-control, bringing out the urge to comfort her and ask forgiveness for the way he had treated her. She needed to find that damn lens and get out of his office. Fast.

Relena cast a surreptitious glance upward and saw his strained face and hands clenching and unclenching

"Aren't you going to help me?" Her voice wavered.

He swallowed heavily and closed his eyes. "No."

Heero could not see the wicked smile that curved her lips beneath the fall of her hair and her bowed head. She chuckled lowly as her hand inched into her pocket.

"You leave me no choice."

He jerked back when she lunged at him with the apparent intention of attacking his feet and had to restrain his instinctual urge to kick whatever was attached to his leg. A soft click seemed to resound in the suddenly quiet room, and Heero stared down in disbelief at the slim metal shackles that bound his ankles. His shocked gaze slowly turned to the innocent looking blonde kneeling at his feet and staring up at him with doe eyes. Her expression shifted, and her eyes danced impishly as she licked her lips.

"Neither one of us is going anywhere. We have some unfinished business to attend to."


	3. Hunger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Relena has lunch with coughoncough Heero. Who here likes chocolate? Show of hands please. a wink and a smirk I thought so. Lime warning for this one, folks! Lemon to come! (pun totally intended)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy reading this latest installment as much as I enjoyed writing it. Many thanks to miaka mouse, my lovely beta-reader and honorary big sister.

Unfinished business.

The words hung heavily in the air between them, strangely ominous in their intent. Heero stared down at the woman crouched at his feet, recognizing for the first time the significance behind her unusual attire. Riding. Riding on top. The dominant position. Unfinished business.

But, damn it all, she had handcuffed him!

The unnatural silence that had fallen over Heero's office exploded in a sudden flurry of motion. Heero snarled under his breath and lunged to break the handcuffs at his ankles only to be met with a body block from the Vice-Foreign Minister. Her unexpected and surprisingly well-executed tackle sent them sprawling to the carpeting, Relena landing hard on Heero's chest.

Heero lay stunned, staring dazedly at the ceiling and choking on a mouthful of golden hair. After a few brief moments Relena stirred from her position. Soft lips brushed across the sensitive hollow of his throat and traveled in a heated path up the side of his neck. His hands curled around Relena's hips of their own accord, drawing her pliant curves down hard against him. She hissed and nipped his ear, her hot breath sending delightful shivers down his spine. A series of light nuzzles moved across his face, and she paused above his mouth.

"I missed you, Heero," she whispered softly, her lips brushing teasingly against his with each syllable. He arced up into her touch, opening his mouth willingly against her playfulness, and their tongues swirled together, stroking and caressing, igniting the need for other parts of their bodies to take similar actions.

 __

 _Hey, slow down! You haven't properly punished him yet!_

Relena smiled slowly against the lips of the man beneath her, one of her hands stealthily pulling the red silk ribbon from her hair. The slick, cool material coiled easily in her palm, and she gently pulled Heero's hands away from where they were so intently exploring just how smoothly the cloth of her breeches hugged her backside. Their fingers twined together as she raised his arms above his head, and she rocked her hips against his as she twisted the ribbon around his wrists.

A sweet stab of pleasure shot through Heero's body as Relena moved against him with a light moan. He felt strangely cold and vulnerable when she suddenly pulled away and started to reach for her. A sudden pressure tightened around his wrists with the movement, and he froze, noting the satisfaction that lit Relena's gaze. Slowly, very slowly, he tilted his head back while slightly raising his arms. The muscles in his shoulders tightened at the awkward position, and his face hardened to match when he saw the red ribbon wound tightly about his hands mocking him. His eyes narrowed angrily. He flexed his hands, preparing to worry and rip at his bonds, when a dainty feminine hand covered them.

"Don't bother to struggle. They'll only get tighter, and since I quite like your hands I'd hate for you to lose them," Relena stated with calm logic, her fingers gently stroking across the silken binding.

"Why?" Heero bit out, his eyes blazing with blue fire.

Relena cocked her head to one side. "I'm very upset with you." She frowned and withdrew her hand. "You've never written, called, visited, or done anything that could remotely be considered an attempt to communicate with me. You'll have to work to get back into my good graces." She cast a glance at her watch. "And you've already wasted fifteen minutes of my time. It's a good thing I took a long lunch break . . . which reminds me," her gaze settled on him, a distinctly predatory glint in her eyes, "I'm hungry."

"Relena . . ."

She ignored his warning tone as she calmly leaned over his body, snagging her bag and drawing it over to them before settling herself comfortably sideways on his stomach. Relena crossed her legs daintily, giving the captive man beneath her quite a nice view of her thighs and patted his knee companionably in response to his unceasing glare.

"Don't worry, Heero. I'll share if you want."

He remained still and tense beneath her, anger radiating off of every tensed muscle in nearly tangible waves that Relena chose to ignore. The bonds were mostly an act; he could easily escape from them at any time he chose. Just not without hurting Relena in the process. He would cut off his own hand before he would willingly raise it against the infuriating, sandwich-eating woman currently using him as a chair. And, well, the silk was being rather stubborn in giving way . . .

Relena finished her sandwich and daintily licked her fingers free of crumbs, casting an amused glance at Heero as he unconsciously licked his lips when his eyes focused on her tongue twining around her fingers.

"Would you like something, Heero?"

His hungry gaze quickly darted away from her mouth, and he stared stonily at the wall beyond her.

"No?" Relena idly rummaged through her bag. "Too bad."

As her fingers closed over the object she sought, she suppressed a grimace. She absolutely hated cucumbers.

 __

 _The things women do for their men . . ._

Relena inserted the distasteful thing into her mouth very slowly, teasing its tip with her tongue before wrapping her lips around it snugly. She closed her eyes against the dark, dangerous fever that had appeared in Heero's gaze and gulped nervously as she felt the muscles beneath her tighten further. Anticipation coursed singing through her veins, and she shivered delightedly as she began rhythmically sucking on the cucumber.

Heero's face schooled itself into intense concentration as he carefully picked at the knots on his wrists. The incredibly, disturbingly erotic sight of the cucumber disappearing into her mouth made him think of other things that could also fit in there, and he wanted to be untied now, damn it! He froze in surprise when Relena's eyes suddenly snapped open and she tossed the cucumber away before standing up and stepping a short distance away. He felt strangely bereft without her warm weight on his body, and a vague feeling of alarm flashed in his consciousness as he feared that the fun-torture, that is, the torture was over.

Heero needn't have worried.

Relena cast a quick glance at the clock. Good, they still had enough time. She tapped one finger idly against her teeth as she eyed her bag. "Now for dessert." She frowned cutely. "Hmm, this could get rather messy."

Two slender hands rose, slowly fingering the buttons on her riding jacket. She carefully teased the buttons through their holes, nonchalantly shrugging out of the red cloth and letting it fall to the floor. Then she sat gracefully in the chair and in an impressive display of flexibility twisted her legs up in the air and removed her tall boots. Relena arched her back as she languidly rose from the chair and sighed softly as she pulled her shirt over her head. Heero's eyes widened as the white lace of her bra became visible, and he squirmed against his bonds. Relena winked at him as she skimmed her hands over her breasts and ran them teasingly down her stomach to the waist of her breeches. She eased the clinging material over her hips with a sensuous little wriggle and stepped free.

"Disappointed, Heero?" She traced one finger over the lace of her matching high-cut panties. "The thong seemed to upset you before so I decided these were an acceptable substitute." She spun slowly in front of him before cocking her head and asking with wide-eyed innocence, "Heero, do you think I'm fat?"

He snarled up at her from his prone position, a feral glint in his dark eyes, and said with exaggerated slowness and force, "Relena, you're making maintaining my self-control very difficult."

 __

 _That's the point, you dolt._

Relena merely smiled at his threatening tone and bent over her bag, cheerfully waggling her bottom just for him. She pulled out a tube of frosting and ran it gently over her lips.

"Do you like chocolate?"

Heero's jaw set stubbornly, and he remained silent. Relena shrugged. "It doesn't really matter anyway." She straddled his stomach and stroked her fingers slowly through his hair. " ** _I_** __love chocolate."

She curled her fingers around the zipper of his jacket and slowly slid it down, before brushing the thick material aside to reveal the light cotton of his tank top. Relena lightly stroked her hands over the planes of his chest and stomach, feeling his muscles quiver with each downward movement.

"If I untie you will you be a good boy and not run away like you always do?" Heero refused to reply, challenging her with his glare. Relena sighed ruefully. "I didn't think so. Oh well."

She fisted her hands in the material low on his stomach and yanked, untucking his shirt from his pants and rolling the signature green cloth up to his collarbone. Relena's eyes widened appreciatively, marveling at the expanse of toned male that was bared to her hungry gaze. Heero had grown up a bit in the years since she had seen him last.

 __

 _Yummmmmmy! I wonder if anything else has grown . . ._

Relena added her mental agreement as she hefted the tube of icing. She ran her palm down his abdomen, watching his muscles ripple in response, and went to work. After several quiet moments disturbed only by their ragged breathing she pulled away to admire her handiwork.

A stick figure, graced with a crown atop its head, stood boldly among a haloing burst of chocolate stars. Relena scooped a bit of icing onto the tip of her finger and thrust the digit in Heero's mouth, watching his face carefully as he reflexively licked the confection off. She slowly drew her finger from his mouth and teasingly stroked it across her lower lip before raising it to her mouth and giving it a sultry lick of her own.

Relena bowed her head as she scooted across Heero's body, laving her tongue across his heated skin. An odd combination of the natural salty tang of his skin and the contrasting rich, sweet flavor of the icing filled her mouth, and she shuddered lightly, feeling her pulse increase. His abdominal muscles tensed and fluttered beneath her questing mouth, and small sounds of pleasure escaped him despite his best efforts.

 __

 _It appears other parts of his body are beyond his control as well . . ._

Indeed, a hard bulge in his pants pressed against the exposed curves of her breasts. Relena snaked one arm between their bodies and caressed him through his clothes.

"Are you willing to cooperate now?" she purred, delicately tracing her tongue over the small, stiff peak of his nipple.

He exhaled on a harsh groan, and his voice was strained, "Get off me."

"Now, now, Heero, you're in no position to give orders." She accentuated her rebuke with a sharp nip to the side of his pectoral.

"Relena, you have five seconds before I attack you."

 __

 _Is that a threat or a promise?_

"Five . . ."

Relena's hand wormed its way inside Heero's pants.

"Four . . ."

Her fingers closed over the smooth, hard surface she sought.

"Three . . ."

She gave it an experimental stroke as she pulled her body up Heero's torso.

"Two . . ."

Her nose brushed lightly against his as she positioned her mouth just above his, and she flicked her tongue against his lips playfully. Heero's mouth opened to form the final syllable.

"One," Relena breathed against his lips before catching them in a bruising kiss. Her hand arched above their heads as she drove Heero's pocketknife through the silken ribbon binding his hands.

His eyes widened as he felt the material loosen and fall away, the blood flow returning to his stiff fingers. His arms came up, wrapping themselves around her lithe form, and he flexed his hands against her skin. She tasted sharp and sweet, of chocolate and Relena and something that was a little bit of himself.

He wanted her.

Relena gasped when Heero suddenly wrenched his mouth away from her. She found herself pinned under his body as their positions were abruptly reversed. It lasted only for the briefest moment however. Heero's weight lifted, and he rolled to his feet, bending and snapping the handcuffs around his ankles. The former Gundam pilot rose to his full height, and he stared down at the flushed, dazed, and mostly naked woman on his office floor with cold blue eyes.

"I will obey all orders."


	4. Desire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Relena finally gets that ride she's been wanting and Heero is very stupid, leading to something that almost resembles a plot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out and available to the masses. My excuses: term paper, final projects, final exams, house renovation, work, flooding, computer dying, nervous breakdown. Beyond that let's not discuss it. I hope to have the next part out in better time, but the fic has started writing itself and is determined to develop something resembling a plot. This was SUPPOSED to be the final chapter complete with happy ending, but Heero decided to be an ass ::bashes him with mallet in traditional righteously indignant anime girl style:: and Wufei is demanding more screen time. So we'll have to wait and see what happens. Hope you enjoy!

_"I will obey all orders."_

Heero towered over her sprawled form, straight and tall and oh so masculine, his hands clenched at his sides and trembling slightly. Relena stared up at him, caressing the planes of his form where his shirt clung to his damp torso with adoring eyes. His own glittered back at her, hot and dark and burning, branding her skin, and she felt suddenly self-conscious under his gaze.

She licked her lips nervously and shivered when he focused on the movement with concentrated intensity. His eyes flicked to hers, and they stared at each other in absolute silence. To show uncertainty now would end the game that had sprung up between them, but Relena had to know. She mouthed the words her pride and the unspoken rules they followed would not let her say.

Are you sure?

Surprise flickered openly across his face. His eyes widened and softened for a split second before returning to hooded blue fire, and he inclined his chin briefly.

Yes.

A heady thrill raced in an electric arc across Relena's body, bringing a warm rosy flush to her skin. He was wild and dangerous, but he had freely chosen to submit to her will. A wicked smile curved her lips, and her hand closed around her riding crop as she contemplated how far her control over him extended. She brushed its edge idly across her hip as she rose onto one elbow, luxuriating in the sudden rush of sensuality.

"Heero, take off your jacket."

His eyes never left her as he shrugged out of the leather bearing the Preventer logo and allowed it to fall carelessly to the floor.

"And the shirt."

The green tank top was easily pulled over his head and discarded, and Relena felt a warm fluttering start in the pit of her stomach as his muscles flexed and rippled with the casual movement. The memory of his taste lay vividly on her tongue, and her body thrummed with the desire to experience it again. She drew her legs up and rose slowly to her feet, feeling as if the very foundations of the earth were shaky. Heero remained still as she sauntered to him, stopping an armslength away. Relena extended her hand and gently drew the tip of the riding crop in a line across his waist, very careful to keep a distance between them.

"Heero, take off your pants."

He stepped out of his shoes and reached for the buckle of his belt, but Relena's crop stilled his hand with a light tap.

"Did I say you could take off your shoes?" Warning mixed smoothly with amusement in her husky murmur.

Heero's dark gaze flicked from her face to the crop that was ever so slowly drifting down the tent at the front of his pants. His nostrils flared as his eyes fell closed, and he responded with a hoarse groan.

"What was that, Heero? I'm afraid I didn't quite catch it."

"Obstacle . . . to the . . . mission," he forced out, muscles shivering with eagerness.

Relena laughed breathlessly and pulled the crop away. "We can't have that, can we?" Her voice dropped to a silken purr as she studied him from beneath hooded eyelids. "Eliminate them all."

The pants dropped around his ankles quite quickly, and he stepped out of the pool of cloth, broken handcuffs jingling around his ankles.

 _It's a pity he's taken to wearing underwear._

He toed off his socks, kicking them across the room and quickly removed the offending underwear.

Relena glided forward, stopping scant inches from his body. Her skin flushed and tingled from the warmth that radiated from his nude form, and she reveled in the heat of arousal. Heero quivered before her, and she was amused to note him begin to shift forward ever so slowly.

"Ah ah, Heero." She admonished him impishly, poking her index finger against the solid wall of his chest to ease him back. "I didn't say you could move."

His eyes flashed, a dangerous promise blooming in the darkened depths. Relena smiled openly, relishing his restrained defiance as she flattened her hand against his skin and smoothed her palm in a languid path down his stomach. His breath hitched and tightened when her fingers brushed through the patch of course hair between his thighs, and he threw back his head with a sharp inhalation when her hand closed around his arousal.

 _Such a convenient handle._

Her fingers danced and stroked his length as she gently drew him closer. He came easily, willingly to her, fisting one hand in her hair as she nipped and licked at his clavicles. Relena pulled away and stared up at him coyly through her lashes as she twined her fingers with his. She raised his hand, settling it firmly over her heart.

"Heero . . . touch me."

He obeyed.

His other hand left her hair and curled around her back, supporting her as her legs grew increasingly weak with each subsequent caress. Following the same torturous path she had used on him, he stroked his hand down the front of her breasts and dipped between them to unhook the front fastening bra she had chosen for the occasion. With the obstruction gone, he lowered his head, nuzzling and brushing wet kisses across sensitive skin. Relena stifled a shriek when his mouth closed over one swollen, sensitized nipple as he trailed his hand in a lazy path down her stomach. The crop slipped through her suddenly weak fingers, and her hands rose to curl around his neck. Her eyes fell closed and she threw her head back as his hand moved still lower, pressing firmly against her through the lace barrier of her panties. She clutched at his shoulders, digging tiny crescents into his skin as she moaned his name. She felt him smile against her breast and giggled breathlessly, pulling his lips back up to hers.

"You never did say whether you liked the panties, Heero," she murmured between kisses.

His mouth drifted back to her ear as he snagged his fingers in the offending article and pulled it down. "You look better without them."

She shivered as his heated whisper washed over the delicate shell of her ear and shuddered deliciously when his fingers parted her damp thighs and slipped in against her wet heat. Tiny arcs of electricity jolted her body and she reveled in the current, mewling softly and kissing him deeply while her hands alternately fluttered restlessly across his body and clutched him to her.

Heero lowered their entwined bodies to the floor, settling himself atop her, but Relena was just coherent enough to push him away.

"My turn," she gasped, scratching her nails in a line down his chest as she rolled atop him. Heero's hands clasped firmly to her buttocks as he lifted her, and she swatted them away. "Don't make me tie you up again." The discarded riding crop came easily to her hand, and she tapped the end of it against his mouth very softly. "Heero, be still."

He quieted beneath her, only his ragged breathing and glowing eyes revealing his fervor. Relena dropped the crop near his hip as she scooted backwards down his body. She braced herself on his chest with one hand as the other wrapped around his length and she positioned herself above him. She lowered her body on him slowly, inch by torturous inch, until he was fully sheathed inside her. Heero did not move once during the process though his eyes became hooded and unfocused and veins stood out on the sides of his neck at the strain of obeying her command.

Relena panted quietly, her body slowly adjusting to the long forgotten feeling of fullness. She flexed her muscles around him experimentally, and he moaned sharply, thrusting up into her instinctively.

"Bad Heero," Relena choked, digging her nails into his chest as she sat up completely astride him. She coiled her legs beneath her, and lifted with her thigh and hip muscles, rising and falling in an instinctual steady rhythm on his body. Heero matched her thrust for thrust, timing himself to catch her on the down stroke.

"Yes, faster," she gasped at the deeper penetration, a wonderful little keening noise rising in her throat. His hands molded themselves to her rear, helping her to keep the pace when her legs weakened and started trembling violently. Relena reached for him, his name a plea dropping from her lips. Heero rose to meet her with one hard thrust, and she shattered into exquisite, glittering shards of ecstasy. His name was ripped from her mouth in a wail, and tremors wracked her body as her inner muscles clamped and rippled around him.

 _Mission complete._

Heero followed with a shuddering groan, letting himself go in sweet release. They lay together entwined and breathless on the carpeting, the clock on the wall ticking away their time together. When lucidity returned to Relena she started dusting feathery kisses across his skin until she reached his mouth. Heero gathered her close and curled around her protectively as he returned her caresses. There had been no time for cuddling after their first union, and it was a novel experience. They kissed long and slow and languid, tongues twining together in a lazy dance. Relena pulled away reluctantly when she felt the first stirrings of desire reawaken.

"I have to go. The Parisian ambassador will be expecting me soon, and I should probably change first." She caressed his face tenderly with her fingertips and felt a sinking feeling of loss as shutters fell across his eyes.

Heero nodded silently, pulling out of her and turning away as he began to gather their scattered clothes. Relena studied his closed off expression warily from the corner of her eye as they dressed side by side, but it did not waver. He straightened her hair and habit for her, his hands gentle but strangely impersonal. Relena turned, rising up on her toes to kiss his cheek at the door, and he looked at her squarely.

"Will you be coming back?"

She smiled uncertainly, searching his gaze for some clue, some sign. "Don't I always? If you want me to I will."

His eyes narrowed, but he nodded curtly, opening the door and escorting her into the hallway.

"Have a good day, Vice-Foreign Minister. I hope I solved the problem for you."

Relena's eyes widened and her face paled as though he had struck her a physical blow, and she reached for him, but he had already closed the door. Her fingers lingered hesitantly over the speaker button, but this was hardly something they could discuss publicly. She slumped against his door miserably, pressing her hands against the cold wood and raising sorrowful eyes to the ceiling.

"You'll obey all orders, right, Heero?" she whispered quietly. "Love me."

***

Wufei watched as Heero slumped in his desk chair and buried his head in his hands. He eyed his subordinate with a strange blend of contempt and compassion before checking his watch and switching off the television. Wufei spun in his seat and pulled the incriminating footage out of its recorder, yanking open the bottom drawer of his desk. The disk in its protective case clattered loudly against the bare steel before a stack of loose papers were tossed in on top to conceal it.

The Chinese man turned a key in the drawer lock and stashed the small item in his pocket. He grabbed an object off his desktop and leaned back in his chair, kicking his feet up on the desk. Wufei regarded the small, plainly packaged porno disk in his hand with narrowed eyes.

"I knew that boy would be a bad influence on her."


	5. Tempest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are multiple confrontations and Relena unwittingly and unwillingly acquires a roommate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't be too angry with our wayward lovebirds after this. They're only human (kinda...), and I promise everything will turn out all right in the end.
> 
> Fondest birthday wishes to Raine Yuy, beck, and kmf  
> I love you ladies!

He felt . . . torn.

Indecision was a rather novel experience for Heero Yuy, and he found he did not like it. He leaned against the sink in the private bathroom attached to his office and stared at his reflection in the mirror as steam from the running shower began to wind about the room. He did not look any different except for a slight, nearly unnoticeable swelling of his lips. But, then again, he reflected, that was only because he was still fully clothed. The Preventer uniform hid the bites and nail marks scattered down his chest and stomach.

And therein lay his dilemma. Relena had used him for instant gratification and pleasure, though she had admittedly given them back to him in return. He felt dirty, dirty beyond the stickiness of chocolate and saliva smeared on his torso, dirty beyond sweat and the lingering smell of sex, used and discarded by everyone in his life. Relena was no different. And that made his chest ache in a strange and uncomfortable way. He wanted to pretend that nothing had happened, but at the same time he wanted to imprint the memory of her, her touch, her scent, her voice, onto his body, never to be forgotten. A little slice of heaven, a slice of simultaneous hell.

Heero closed his eyes and reached for the shower knob. The water petered out, dripping slowly from the tap and then stopping completely. The memory could remain for a little while longer. After all memories always fade.

* * *

"So, what have you been doing today?" Sally inquired pleasantly, poking her head around Wufei's door.

He started, almost guiltily she noted with inquisitive amusement, and quickly brought his feet down from his desktop, hastily chucking a small disk behind him.

"Don't you ever knock?" he demanded peevishly, his cheeks darkening with something Sally was certain was not anger.

"Where would the fun be in that?" she laughed, tossing him a paper bag. "I wouldn't have any chance at all to catch you in an embarrassing moment. But you still haven't answered my original question . . . even after I was nice enough to bring you food. So," she drawled, sitting in the chair Relena had cleared of books and crossing her long legs slowly, "what have you been up to today, hmmm?"

A strangled look crossed his features at her particular choice of words and body movements, and he willed the capillaries in his face not to expand. He would not blush, damn it!

"Nothing."

Sally scoffed, leaning forward and perfectly framing her breasts with her arms. "I hardly believe that. You've **always** done something."

"Fine then. If it will shut you up I let my best pair of handcuffs get broken and initiated the downfall of mankind as we know it."

"Is that all? You've had quite an uneventful morning."

"Think you can top it, woman?"

She smiled sweetly, albeit toothily, at him. "I do **so** love it when you call me that. It brings out all my hidden Neanderthal longings. I miss my club and the cave . . . the wheel, fire . . . And, Wufei, I do believe your forehead's gotten bigger."

He glared at her as he bit into his veggie burger.

"Would you like to know about my morning?"

He snorted and waved her away over his mouthful. Sally, of course, ignored him, abandoning her chair to hop up on his desk slightly to one side of him. After a few moments of scrounging through her pockets she pulled out a neatly folded square of paper and thrust it in his face. Wufei shot her an annoyed look as he snatched the paper from her hand, but the grave expression on her face silenced his customary snappy comeback.

"Damage control is a bitch, Wufei. Especially when you're really too late to do anything about it."

He somehow managed to hide the cold surge of alarm he felt as he read the words on the paper. It was far, far too soon. There was absolutely no way the tabloids could have possibly gotten wind of it yet.

"Une wants to see you later today too. I think you're getting a new assignment, Mr. Chang."

"Just what I've always wanted," he muttered, leaving his half-eaten burger on the desk and snatching a sword from its casement on the wall. He pulled it out of its sheath, tossing that carelessly onto the seat of his desk chair before stalking to the door.

"Where are you going with that?"

He raised the blade so that light danced across its cutting edge in a blinding shimmer.

"Mole hunting."

* * *

Benjamin Johnson whistled idly at his desk. Relena had left for her private meeting with the Parisian ambassador several minutes ago, and he had nothing to do. He was **bored**. His usual form of entertainment had been rendered off limits by a shockingly frightening pacifist. His ego hurt just to think of it. Other parts of his body also ached with the remembrance of the peculiar form of punishment she had imposed on him.

Relena could be quite alarming when she wanted to be. And her apparent lack of . . . delicate female sensibilities was completely unexpected. Ben could think of no other woman in his acquaintance who would have responded to seeing their double perform sex acts on television quite like Relena had. And she had remained unmoved!

"Either the woman's composure is incredible or she's a complete cold fish," he muttered, carefully balancing a pencil on his upper lip.

But her mood had improved when she'd stopped by to meet the ambassador. She had been civil, even friendly to her poor beleaguered personal assistant . . . although she had seemed rather subdued. However, anything was better than the icy scorn and disapproval she had been radiating.

Ben felt that things were almost back to where they should be and was both relieved and comforted . . . but that didn't change the fact that he was bored. His longing gaze slid to the drawer housing his plainly packaged "collection."

"Just one more won't hurt. No one will ever know."

His eager fingers curled around the drawer handle . . .

His pulse hammered with expectation . . .

The door flew open with a sharp bang . . .

Ben froze in place, absolutely petrified as his eyes raked over the armed Chinese man who had just kicked in the door.

"Can . . . can I h-h-help you? The Vice Foreign Minister . . . isn't . . . isn't in ri-right now!" he stammered, voice cracking.

Wufei's angry glare intensified as he strode forward. "You would use Relena as a shield to protect your own worthless life? I should cut your throat right now."

"Wufei, blood on the carpet is a no-no," Sally chided from her position in the doorway. "And I don't think Relena would particularly like it if you killed him."

"Relena is not thinking clearly right now."

"Really?" Her eyebrows rose. "Things just keep getting more and more interesting."

"Yes." Wufei turned his full attention back to the bespectacled blond cowering before him. "Now, worm, tell me if any of this is familiar to you."

Ben hastily read the paper shoved in his face and shook his head rapidly.

"Are you sure?"

"Not really!" he yelped as the sword shifted closer to his jugular. "I mean there was a card but she threw it away! And I don't have any interest in something like that!"

"So, you didn't spread this misinformation?"

"No! Why would I? Who'd believe it anyway?"

"Who indeed," Wufei muttered, pulling the sword away and turning to Sally.

"Think we have a trash rat?" she inquired, straightening. "That's going to be harder to trace."

Wufei smiled savagely. "Tell Une I'll meet with her first thing tomorrow morning. Perhaps nothing will come of this."

"And perhaps I'll give birth to a Gundam," she called over her shoulder. "Remember-no killing!"

Wufei watched her leave before hauling Ben up by his collar. "I'm watching you, worm. Be very careful what you do."

Ben collapsed back in his seat when the Chinese man finally left with his sword swung over his shoulder. He clutched his throat with trembling hands and tried to gulp in enough air, but for some reason it was very difficult. His heart gave a frightened leap when Sally's golden head reappeared in his doorway.

"It's really nothing personal. I hope you have a clean set of clothes here though. You might want to go wash up." She smiled at him kindly and left.

Ben stared down at the stain across his trousers numbly. "I'm really starting to dislike women."

* * *

"Three days, she mused aloud. "Or more accurately, seventy-four hours, twenty-eight minutes, and thirty-two seconds."

It had been three days since she had been with Heero, and she could not stand it. She wanted to jump him, rip all the clothes from his marvelous body, and make wild hot primitive love all through the day and long into the night. How had she ever made it three years without his touch?

It was torturous, it was inhuman, it was infuriating.

And Heero was avoiding her like she carried the bubonic plague.

She could not possibly mistake his actions for anything else. Ignoring her calls, keeping his office door locked at all times, and turning away every time he saw her were the unmistakable signs of a standoffish man. Relena wanted to **hurt** him.

Not that she could completely and totally blame him. They'd always had a habit of leaving one another feeling unsettled after their various confrontations. Sex had only compounded the problem. And as much as Relena hated to admit it, Wufei had been right. Her job performance was slipping, and she was easily distracted. Nothing at all helped, and Heero appeared to share her problem.

"Why is it that we can't just obsess over one another in the same room?" she rhetorically asked the air of her office.

"Because you're both too proud," it responded promptly.

Relena whirled as the clear, dryly mocking voice echoed in her ear and tilted backwards in her chair. Wufei had slipped unnoticed into her private sanctuary and was dubiously peering around the large box in his arms at the room's contents. Finally settling on the center of her desk as the best option, he dropped the thing with a resounding crash and whipped out a tape measure.

"What are you doing here?" Relena asked irritably as he calmly raised and lowered her arms, measuring her torso with all the clinical efficiency of a tailor.

He pulled back with a grunt, scrutinized her critically, and mumbled "It'll do" before digging around in the box.

"What will do? Wufei, what will do? Why are you here?"

No answer seemed forthcoming, and Relena stamped her foot in a fit of childish rage. The Chinese man glanced at her behavior archly, a disapproving frown pulling at the corners of his mouth.

"I'm moving in. New security measures."

"What?"

"New security measures," he repeated brusquely. "I just fitted you for a bulletproof vest."

"I don't need one!"

"No," he agreed readily. "You need a chastity belt far more than you need a bulletproof vest."

"What. Did. You. Say?" Relena snarled between clenched teeth.

"You heard me, Darlian. People have been talking. There are some not so nice rumors floating around, and I don't think you'd appreciate it if people started acting on those rumors."

"What kind of rumors?"

"The unflattering kind. That you enjoy men a bit more than the average woman. That you're an easy lay."

"What? But Heero would never . . ." She sank slowly onto her couch, clutching her head.

"Yuy wouldn't," Wufei agreed. "But there's lots of others that would and that will. Someone found an escort service business card with your name on it and leaked to the press. We're in the process of determining who that person was."

"That . . . explains a lot actually."

"Really?" Wufei questioned politely from his position on the wall as he programmed new codes into her security camera. "You should talk to Heero."

"I should? I mean of course I should, I've been **trying** to, but why do I need to speak with him regarding this matter?"

"I am not a fool." Wufei's eyes narrowed. "Yuy, however, is an insecure idiot."

Relena's eyes widened with horrified comprehension. "He doesn't actually believe those rumors does he?"

"I really couldn't say."

"Of course you can say!" She worried at her lower lip fretfully. "Would he be in his office now?"

"He doesn't ever leave."

"Right!" She jerked open the door and strode past a still petrified Ben.

Stealth and subtlety were lost as Relena stalked through the hallways, people scattering in her wake and following her retreating form with nervous gazes. The normally mild-mannered Vice-Foreign Minister was known to have a formidable temper and from all appearances that temper had decided to take some exercise.

* * *

Heero was only mildly surprised when his office door flew open, rebounding off the wall and leaving a circle of scraped paint behind. The blonde woman emitting nearly palpable waves of anger was perfectly expected and did not warrant even the raising of eyebrows. He found the sharp crack of her hand across his face shocking, however.

He gingerly touched the swelling skin over his cheek and stared at her disbelievingly. "Why . . . ?"

"How could you believe them?" Her voice echoed shrill and tearful in the confines of his office, and Relena visibly wilted. "Why would you believe them? Why would you care?"

"Why wouldn't I care?" Heero countered.

She raised her head slowly, glaring at him with hard blue eyes. "Let's try this again. You've been avoiding me. Why?"

"You're a distraction."

Her lips twisted in a bitter smile. "A distraction? Is that it? Is that all I am?"

"Should you be something more?" he questioned coolly.

"Yes, I should think so. How about a good lay, Heero? But, wait, I guess that's the same thing to you."

"You've seemed to have made it a habit to assault me. Should I think highly of you?" Heero did not think he could have hurt her more if he had struck her, but he ignored the hurt and anger in her eyes. "I'm not your sex toy, Relena. Go find someone else to satisfy your needs."

Her hand snapped at his face again, but he caught it easily.

"You bastard-"

"Surely there's someone in your list of 'companions' who'd be willing to take my place."

Relena's eyes narrowed. "What exactly are you implying?"

"I wasn't your first; I won't be your last. You have lots of 'boyfriends.' You don't need me. Go see someone else."

"Wasn't my first?" she echoed, staring at him strangely and ripping her hand out of his grasp. Her face hardened. "Define virginity for me then, Heero. First penetration, first orgasm, what? And does masturbation count? And even if it does or doesn't what then? Penetration specifically by a male? So female homosexuals would fit into this little scheme where?"

He glared at her furiously but looked distinctly uncomfortable as he muttered in response. "On Libra . . . there wasn't a . . . barrier."

A muscle near Relena's jaw spasmed. "A hymen. All this is because the first time we were together I didn't have a hymen? Why the hell should it matter?" She stared at him, her eyes dazed and glassy before they sharpened into crystal blue shards. "If you think that's so important then you're not worth my time," she said flatly, turning on her heel and marching out the door.

* * *

Wufei felt only mild annoyance when the office door slammed open and a sobbing blonde hurtled into his lap. He had left the door unlocked despite his better judgment specifically for her after all. Even if it was technically **her** office. That did not prevent the distaste he felt as her tears soaked his pants, however.

"Would you mind getting off of me?"

"But he-"

"I know. I saw. Now could you move?"

She hiccupped and turned blazing blue eyes up at him. "Voyeuristic asshole!"

"A voyeuristic asshole who's just doing his job. You started this, Darlian. How do you intend to end it?"

Relena slumped on the floor at his feet, halfheartedly shoving and toppling a stack of his recently relocated books. "I don't know. He's being so idiotic! And narrow-minded and chauvinistic! I expected better from him. I . . . I think I almost hate him right now."

"Indeed," he muttered, absently stroking her hair. "What are your intentions toward Yuy?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you going to do honorably by him?"

She blinked up at him incredulously. "Why, yes, Mr. Chang, I've come to ask for permission to court your subordinate!"

"It's a little too late for that," he mumbled, meeting her sarcasm equally.

Relena ignored his remark and chuckled weakly. "I would have thought such a huge reversal of traditional gender roles would make your head explode."

He eyed her, a faint smile twitching at his lips. "We have a great deal to learn about one another then. I expect you to make an honest man out of Yuy. Even if it kills him."

She leaned her head against his knee and slanted an inscrutable gaze up at him. "And what about us? This new arrangement . . ."

"Twenty-four seven surveillance." He grimaced. "It just might kill **us** too."


	6. Craving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the plot, meager though it is, advances and there is much bonding of reluctant roommates. Affectionately known as the chapter in which Relena and Wufei get down and dirty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have I mentioned lately how much I've come to love Wufei?

"One more day down. An unknown eternity to go."

Wufei slowly crossed off the small square on the wall calendar with the largest, reddest marker he could find. It joined a stream of bold crimson marks identical to it flowing across the page. He then counted them slowly and deliberately as he had been doing since the day he had moved in with Relena.

Twelve.

They were nearing two weeks of blissful cohabitation.

"Haven't I asked you nicely **not** to do that?"

Relena's peevish voice rang in his ear, and he turned to find her clad from neck to calves in a fluffy pink bathrobe. He raised his eyebrows at her appearance and warily eyed the precariously tall wet towel that wound about her head like a turban.

"If by asking nicely you mean that time you threw your slippers at my head then yes."

Her eyes narrowed at his dry, nonchalant tone. "Why do you still do it then?"

He shrugged. "Everyone needs a hobby."

"Wufei!" she snarled, curling her fists around the terrycloth belt of her robe and wishing that it was his neck she was throttling. "And what is that circle on the twenty-fourth for?"

"That will be . . . your first public appearance since the proverbial body waste hit the proverbial spinning blade in a box."

A muscle along the left side of her jaw twitched. "Only since Une insisted that I cancel all my others when that tabloid debacle started. And you deem it to be so important that you would encircle it with an **inch thick** line because . . .?"

"It should be interesting." He shrugged. "I thought it would be important to you."

She sat down on her bed, busily toweling off her wet hair. "It is, but I don't need you painting a bull's eye around it. My desk planner has all the important dates marked in it."

Her bodyguard affected a wistful expression. "Ah, yes, the desk planner . . . which you won't let me touch," he finished flatly.

"You wonder why?" she barked sarcastically, swatting at him with the soaked towel.

He caught it calmly, wrenching it out of her hands and flinging it across the room where it hit the bathroom door with a sharp fwap and fell to the floor in a limp puddle of soaked terrycloth. Wufei sat down heavily beside her with what might be regarded as an intentional bounce thrown in, making the springs squeak in protest and jostling Relena off to one side. She sputtered as she attempted to right herself while trying in vain to remain modestly covered.

"How much more of this do you think we can take, Darlian?" he questioned as he grabbed one flailing arm and hauled her upright. She pushed damp golden locks out of her face and slumped against him.

"However long it lasts. You still haven't found the informant?"

"Leak," he corrected mildly. "They're only informants if they have true, useful information. And no. . . . You're dripping on my uniform."

She pulled away and wrinkled her nose at him. "So sorry."

"Glad to hear it. Now why don't you tell me what the real problem is?"

She immediately tried to stand up, but he caught her wrists with a harshness that belied the concern in his face and pulled her back. She struggled vainly to free herself. "What real problem? I hadn't though **any** of them were fake!"

"I think this is something beyond the calendar, beyond us living together, beyond Yuy, even beyond the world and its stupidity." He motioned at the various psychology texts she had scattered over her bedroom floor the previous night. "You do this every single night. You're searching for something specific, aren't you?"

Relena looked away and muttered something under her breath.

Wufei gave up his hold on one of her hands to tip her face back to him. "I didn't hear you."

She sighed, her eyes dropping and her free hand twisting the material of her robe. "The voice is gone."

"The voice," he repeated deliberately. A bemused look crossed his face, and he released her completely, bending down to snag the nearest volume, a collection of artwork by schizophrenics. "I think you're the only person I know who'd be upset when the voices in her head went away."

"Not voices, not plural. Singular," she bit out defensively, snatching the book from his hands.

"Did this voice sound like anyone you know?"

Two spots of vibrant color burst into being high on her cheekbones.

"Well, well, is it someone I might know?" he inquired, leaning forward with eager curiosity lighting his eyes.

"Dorothy," she whispered. "Dorothy Catalonia."

"And what did Dorothy tell you to do?"

The blush expanded, turning her whole face cherry red. "Jump Heero."

A look of strain crossed Wufei's face at the monumental task of containing his amusement. "And the voice is gone now that you have?"

She nodded slowly.

"Well, that's it then," he remarked satisfactorily. "You fulfilled the task so there's no reason for you to still hear it."

"Then it should have left three-" she cut off abruptly at his look of predatory interest.

"This job just keeps getting more and more interesting . . . Have you come up with a self-diagnosis?" He inclined his head significantly as the mass of reading material.

"To my satisfaction? No."

"Maybe you're just not acknowledging the whole truth of the matter then."

She glanced at him warily. "I'm not sure I know what you mean."

He smiled wolfishly and leaned back on the bed. "Permission to psychoanalyze you?"

She raised one eyebrow. "You're hardly qualified. In fact **you** should stay as far away from Freudian psychology as possible," she responded dryly before shrugging. "Permission granted."

He pulled his glasses out of a pocket and slid them on his nose before steepling his fingers, somehow managing to look a strange combination of dignified and ridiculous as he reclined on her exposed pink satin sheets. "You were brought up in a conservative household, correct? Therefore I am right to assume that it was impressed upon you that things of a sexual nature are bad, wrong, wicked, undesirable, sinful, and all those other not nice adjectives that I don't care to list right now. But you still thought about them, especially where Heero was concerned. And that made all those unflattering adjectives apply to you in your mind. So you subconsciously projected them onto a voice that is not yours, thus making them more acceptable to you because you convinced yourself that you weren't really the one thinking and saying whatever it is they said. And don't ever tell me; I don't want to know.

"However," he continued, "your coping method had the unfortunate side effect of making you fear that you had gone crazy, and something you created as a manifestation of stress became a source of stress in its own right. Add in several years of pent up sexual frustration, and you have a formula for a nymphomaniac basket case. Which is of course what you were the day you showed up in my office with that disk. When you had sex with Heero you admitted yourself to be the carnal and wanton woman that you are thus eliminating the voice. It's all in your mind. You created it and you have acknowledged that it is you thus absorbing it back into yourself. Now you simply have to deal with your sexuality openly and on your own terms, and you will eventually become an upstanding member of society with a normal sex drive."

She stared at him silently for several long moments. "You scare me," she said at last, rising from the mattress. "I can't believe you're really that perceptive. You have to be making it all up, but I have to admit that the way you've explained it does make a kind of sense. And . . . I suppose it sounded like Dorothy because she was always uninhibited . . ."

Wufei watched her as she disappeared into the depths of her closet. Heero's apparent indifference and the public backlash were starting to take their toll. Her skin was paler and marred by circles beneath her eyes, and, depending on her mood, she would either barely eat at all or gorge herself. Her work output had actually improved though. She had thrown herself into it wholeheartedly to forget the pain of multiple rejections.

Relena had essentially ceased all communication with Heero. All her contact with the ranks of Preventers supporting her went directly through Une or Wufei and Sally, who came directly below the commander in the hierarchy. Relena had never had any need to deal with the lower officers before, and she remained intelligent and aware enough that she realized she did not need to start now.

But she had not given in yet. Her eyes still sparked with fire and passion, and he was determined to keep it that way.

Let her get angry.

Anger was good.

Not necessarily anger with Yuy, but she needed a cathartic outlet, and Wufei was more than willing to provide one.

To fulfill that requirement and advance others in his own agenda and to her benefit, he had coaxed and developed their traditional infamous office rivalry into bouts of all-out war. The rest of the staff avoided them at all costs and moved very carefully when they had to come into contact with the volatile pair because there was no telling what spark would push their constant banter into a full-fledged screaming match.

He knew that those who worked with them in the main office were convinced that the sordid tales spattered across the tabloids and even some of the more reputable newspapers were false. Relena obviously was not playing around with other men. She did not need to when she was having such a passionate affair with her chief bodyguard. And Wufei had no qualms about allowing them to believe that, indeed he actively encouraged it. Let it spread among them. Let it trickle down the ranks to Yuy. Let him simmer and rage and suffer at what he thought was beyond his grasp. He would have sense knocked into his head soon enough. Both of them would. Even if Wufei had to bludgeon them himself.

A dangerous smile curled on his lips. He was looking forward to that part.

* * *

Wufei did not bother to glance up when Relena flung herself into the chair next to him and kicked her feet up in his lap. Nor did he deign to respond when Sally draped herself over his shoulders and snatched some food from his plate.

"Oh, look, the news." She pointed helpfully with her chicken leg and inhaled sharply. "Oh my . . ."

That, however, in conjunction with Relena's startled gasp, did catch his attention. He looked up at the screen across the room, and his mouth tightened into a firm line. A flock of reporters had swarmed around a familiar dark figure and were thrusting microphones in his face.

"Mr. Yugen, is it true that the Vice Foreign Minister spent nearly an hour and a half in your office with no prior appointment?"

"What is your relationship to the Vice Foreign Minister?"

"Yo, Hiroshi, the world is dying to know, is she a screamer or a-urk!"

That particular reporter never got to finish his question since Heero's hand closed around his throat, effectively cutting off his ability to speak. The Preventer officer lifted the hapless man and dangled him in the air, his face tight and his eyes burning. His words were low but clear and vibrant with barely restrained rage.

"Relena and I knew one another from boarding school. She found out that I had become a Preventer and came to welcome an acquaintance and catch up on old times. There is nothing more between us and there nev-"

Wufei cut the television off and turned to the young woman sitting rigidly in her chair. His brows lowered in concern. The anger had gone from her eyes and had been replaced by a dull sheen.

"Relena-"

"Just shut up, Wufei."

* * *

Vodka is such an interesting beverage, Relena decided as she idly tipped her glass in the light. Like water, only much, much better. Clear, sparkling, virtually unfreezable, burning. It made her wonderfully lightheaded, warm. Rather like being with Heero had.

But that was the problem. She didn't want to think about Heero . . . which was why she was drinking the vodka. Perhaps she just hadn't had enough of yet. Or enough of the cognac and brandy also sitting on the low table. The fruity drink in the pretty little decorative bottle was relatively untouched, but it was too feminine, too womanly. She didn't want to feel particularly womanly. Feeling womanly was what had gotten her into this mess.

"You're acting pathetic," Wufei remarked dryly from his position on her sitting room couch. "Destroying your liver because a guy won't look at you."

"Won't look at me? Hah! He thinks I'm a whore. What would you know anyway?" she returned grumpily, setting her glass down and facing him. "I'm sure rejection is a common occurrence for you, arrogant asshole that you are, but I am unaccustomed to it."

"I'll have you know that I am a sexual being too," he responded smugly.

"You?" she laughed. "You're nothing more than a voyeur! I'm sure the women are just falling all over you."

"You disagree then?"

She walked toward him, hips swaying and settled herself astride his lap. Her fingers tangled themselves in the dragon's tail at his neck and pulled his hair free. "If I do will you prove me wrong?"

Wufei snorted. "Such witty repartee sounds like some of the drivel from one of Sally's romance novels." He arched his eyebrows. "Be careful or I'll think you want me."

Her hands skimmed his face, playfully tugging at the glasses perched on his nose. "Maybe I do. You're **cute** like this." Surprise covered the slurred words.

"Relena, you're drunk," he stated firmly, catching her wandering hands with his.

"So?"

"So you're not thinking-or acting-normally," he replied grimly, shifting her off his thighs.

Bloodshot blue eyes stared up at him accusingly. "What? You think I'm damaged goods too? All men are the same! Your damn fragile egos can't handle the thought of a woman who's had a lover before you! Pure as the fucking driven snow?" she screamed. "Is that what you want? Are we back in the damn Dark Ages?" She jerked to her feet and barked snidely, "Shall I go fetch my dowry?"

He watched her sway on her feet. "I'm still not sleeping with you."

Relena stalked away. Her voice came again from the next room, suddenly small and timid. "Wufei? I think I'm going to be sick."

And she proceeded to do just that.

* * *

Wufei sighed wearily as he took one last sweeping glance of the room. The sun was just beginning to tinge the sky with rosy gold, and he would be free to catch a few hours of sleep in about five minutes. And he desperately needed that sleep. It was distasteful work cleaning up after a sick woman.

A quiet knock sounded at the door, and he opened it to reveal a servant laden with a breakfast tray.

"This is what you requested, sir."

Wufei eyed its contents: several pieces of toast with butter and jam on the side; a cup of coffee, black, with little cream and sugar pots set considerately nearby; and two glasses of ice water. He nodded curtly. "Put it on the table and leave."

The maid did as he demanded and scurried away. Wufei pulled a bottle from his pocket, shook out two small white pills, and placed them next to the coffee. He propped a hurriedly scribbled note against the tray and pulled the curtains closed again, leaving Relena's quarters as the first beepings of her alarm filled the air.

* * *

Relena stirred sluggishly.

"Infernal racket . . . Oh, my head," she moaned, one hand blindly emerging from the covers and batting at the alarm. It fell from the nightstand with a crash that reverberated in her skull but at least the beeping stopped. Relena struggled out of bed, her body unusually clumsy and heavy feeling. Her head felt thick, like it was shrouded in a cottony haze, but it pounded steadily in time to her beating heart.

She dragged herself into her sitting area and toward the breakfast table as was routine although simply the thought of food made her feel nauseous. Vaguely she wondered at the lack of usual early morning sunlight, but decided that it was probably for the better.

Relena sank heavily into her accustomed chair, staring at the simplicity of the meal before her in puzzlement. A rectangular white shape near her right hand caught her attention. It made no sense in context with her breakfast. Her mind could not seem to wrap itself around the enigma of that foreign presence.

Her fingers closed around it hesitantly and tingled with recognition upon encountering its surface. Paper. It was paper. Why would someone put paper on her breakfast tray? Despite her muddled state of mind, Relena was quite certain that she did not eat paper.

She picked it up and studied it. Wufei's handwriting, immaculate and precise, the kind people paid to have engraved on important documents, flowed in large letters across the center of one side. Two words.

 __

 _Foolish woman._

And all the blurry, fragmented images of the night before clicked into place. Drowning herself in liquor. Ranting. Raving. Practically throwing herself at Wufei. And she had been ill . . . She frowned. Everything after that was still blurry, but she caught flashes. Strong arms wrapped around her bare waist as icy water beat at her skin from above. A shower? More water tipped to her lips. A voice compelling her to drink. Softness and darkness and warmth. A hand stroking damp hair from her face. Covers tucked over her as she lay on her stomach.

"Oh, dear heavens," Relena breathed in horror, popping the aspirin in her mouth and gulping them down with the bitter coffee.

* * *

"You have to let me in eventually."

"No, I don't!" she responded crossly, trying to ignore the steady pounding on her door.

"I come bearing gifts," he called enticingly.

"I don't want them!" Desperation and shame tinged her voice, and she hated herself for it.

There was a pause. "Are you exceptionally fond of this door?" he inquired conversationally.

Relena's eyes widened in horror, and she rushed to unlock and yank open the ornately carved wooden door. "Do you realize how old this door is? How long it's been here?"

"Time for a new one then," he shot back, pushing his way past her.

She followed him into the sitting room, wringing her hands anxiously. "Wufei, about last night . . ."

"You were drunk," he interrupted bluntly. "Your judgment was impaired and you were not considering the consequences of your actions."

"I'm so ashamed." She sank down on the settee, covering her face with her hands.

"Good, you should be." He smirked at her when she raised startled, tear-filled eyes to his. "I never expected to have to defend my virtue from **you**."

She frowned. "Now you're just making fun of me. I really do feel terrible."

"That's just the hangover. It'll be gone in a day or so."

"Wufei! I mean it!"

"I know." He gifted her with a rare, genuine smile. "That's why I brought these. Consider them a peace offering."

She eyed the plastic bag he held out for her warily.

"Just take it," he ordered impatiently, shaking the bag in front of her face.

She glared at him, but reached out obligingly. Relena drew her hands back quickly in surprise. "It's cold!"

Wufei sighed wearily, sitting beside her on the settee. His hand fished into the crinkling bag, emerging with a plastic spoon which he presented to her with great ceremony. Then he pulled out a small tub covered in frost.

"Ice cream?" Relena breathed in disbelief as she pulled off the lid. "You brought me ice cream? You wonderful man."

"Death by Chocolate," he confirmed with mock solemnity. "Sally claims its the second best way to die. And since she's a medic I guess she would know."

"What's the first then?" Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed with color as he sardonically lifted one eyebrow. "Oh . . . never mind," she squeaked.

"It's recommended for the brokenhearted and downtrodden. I also have this." He tossed a medium sized paperback in her lap.

Relena stared down at the bare-chested, well-muscled man and barely dressed woman practically melting off him that adorned the cover. "What is it?"

"A romance novel. I believe that particular type is known as a bodice ripper."

"Well, yes, that much is obvious from the state of her clothing, but . . ."

"One of Sally's. Quite humorous actually. Not as trashy as the cover might lead you to believe. More campy."

"Sally really does have a collection of romance novels? And you read them?" Her lips twitched suspiciously around her spoon.

Wufei affected to look affronted. "Strictly for research purposes, of course. They're about women, by women, for women. If I am to be surrounded by women all day, I should at least develop some knowledge of their completely illogical thought processes."

Her eyes glittered as she inquired with exaggerated politeness, "Is it working?"

"Of course not."

She erupted into gales of laughter, clutching the ice cream carton to her stomach as her body shook with mirth. When her giggles finally died away she brushed tears from her eyes. "Thank you. I needed that."

"I'm so glad you appreciate the humiliation I go through on your behalf," he remarked sarcastically, producing another spoon and digging into the ice cream.

They sat together in companionable silence, idly passing the carton between them. Relena turned her head to him along the high back of the settee. She snorted softly. "You know, Wufei, I think you're the closest thing to a best friend that I have."

"Aren't I the fortunate one," he muttered in response around a mouthful of chocolate.

Relena moaned, beating her head against the cushion. "I'm so pathetic."

" **Now** you realize what I've always said."

She halfheartedly chucked a lounge pillow at his face. He caught the incoming cushion easily, stuffing it behind his head and shooting her a smug look from his slanted eyes.

"What do you intend to do about Yuy?"

"Make him suffer," she responded in a flippant tone. She sighed quietly and turned to him, her eyes solemn. "I have to stop running and stop hiding from what I've done. It's time to accept the consequences of my actions. I have to fix this, Wufei. It's all my fault, and I have to make everything right again, make **him** right again. I owe him that much for all the trouble I've caused. I just wish I knew how to do it."

"Very good. I'm relieved to know that in the future there won't be a reoccurrence of last night. I don't think I could handle another mess like that." Open amusement colored Wufei's words, and she glared at him, poking him in the arm with one well-manicured finger.

"Be serious for a moment! And since it's your fault too you're going to help me do it. That's an **order** , Preventer."

"Consider it done then." Wufei mock saluted her before snatching the carton from her hands and digging in. He swallowed his mouthful and raised his eyes to the ceiling in a pleading gesture before rolling them. "The things I do for job security."

And secretly he smiled.


	7. Need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Heero and Relena talk things out and start setting things to rights.

Relena sighed, shoving her sweat-soaked bangs out of her face, before clicking her tongue to urge the tall bay beside her into a steady walk. Though Wufei had expressly prohibited her from riding the horses in her usual jaunts across the palace grounds, they still needed exercise. And she desperately needed her time with them, familiar and nonjudgmental creatures that they were. After a protracted argument that had ended with a pair of spurs that she never used on the horses flying remarkably close to Wufei's head, he had agreed that no one was likely to attack her at the palace stables due to their relative anonymity and central location on the grounds.

She led the bay into a small round paddock and removed the lead shank from his halter, replacing it with the lounge line coiled in her free hand. The horse, accustomed to this, stayed where she had left him as she strode to the center of the round pen and looped his lead around her waist. She urged him into a trot with her voice, watching the dark figure that materialized in the cooling shade of the barn and noting the departure of a black and green garbed man for the main compound.

The early morning was Wufei's time to get much needed rest and Relena's time to mentally prepare herself for the day ahead. The other Preventers who watched over her in his absence switched shifts on the hour at Wufei's request so that there would be no time for them to become complacent. Because heaven knew Wufei was never complacent, she thought with an amused roll of her eyes.

She idly wondered who it would be this time since Sally was not due to collect her to prepare for the press conference for another two hours . . . for the twenty-fourth had finally arrived. Relena had met more Preventers in the past three weeks than she had in her first two years as Vice Foreign Minister. Une and Wufei seemed determined to give every Preventer on the force a chance to guard her personally, which could only lead to an inevitable meeting with a certain Gundam pilot, but Relena refused to dwell on that distressing thought. She wanted it to happen, didn't she? She had decided to act to fix the problem and would take the appropriate measures when the time came. She simply hoped she would know what the appropriate measures were. And at least this guard was suitably discrete, keeping a safe but comfortable distance and not attempting to pressure her to leave the stables as had become common once the third hour mark was reached.

* * *

Heero leaned against the stable door, content for the time being to let the minutes of his guardianship tick away without a word to the young woman in the ring. What did one say to a woman after having sex with her and then gravely insulting her, anyway? He supposed an apology would be the proper starting point followed by an extended period of groveling to return to her good graces, but pondering the theory was much simpler than putting it into practice. It went against his nature to grovel, and he was not sure that the simplest form of an apology would suffice.

He was starting to realize that it was surprisingly difficult to admit to someone else that he had been wrong although he had admitted it to himself days ago, due in part no doubt to the malicious and gloating blaze in his superior's eyes. Wufei had taken to decorating the staff break rooms with montages of Relena, both professional photos and press clippings as well as relaxed, candid shots. So they would remember what they were there for, Wufei had said, and Heero had found it increasingly difficult to remain indifferent when her intensely blue eyes shone on him from the walls wherever he went. The pictures had had a similar effect on the other Preventers and office staff: they grew fiercely protective of her and vigorously defended her reputation against the slanders she increasingly received from the press. Interestingly enough, they generally did this by insisting that she was in a monogamous relationship with the Director of Security. Wufei and Relena? The idea was laughable, and he had had the sneaking suspicion it was intended to make him jealous. Jealousy, however, had never been Relena's style.

Then Wufei had gone one step farther in a move that solidified Heero's knowledge that his superior's new supportive campaign was directed intentionally and specifically at him. Wufei began distributing sexual education pamphlets to all staff members under twenty-five. In a move completely unexpected of the widely known conservative security director, he held mandatory presentations during which he discussed sexuality and the risks that the female Preventers especially might face in their chosen line of work. With his eyes locked on Heero's and Sally nodding at his side he announced in ringing tones that if a virginal Preventer woman experienced an isolated occurrence of unexpected but minor vaginal bleeding or discomfort in the region of her genitals after a particularly grueling maneuver it was nothing to worry about-the physical rigors of her occupation had simply broken her hymen. Wufei then ticked off a list of activities that could have already done the job, among them horseback riding and several other athletic activities that Heero knew Relena had indulged in during her school years.

Heero had not heard the rest of the lecture due to all of his attention being suddenly directed to the horrible sinking feeling of his stomach. Relena had always been an avid horsewoman and had looked forward to their equitation lessons in school far more enthusiastically than most of the other girls. He had overheard her explaining to a classmate that she had been riding since before she could walk. He knew she loved horses, knew the physical effects riding could have on the female body, knew that she had always exhibited a remarkable disinterest in most men. So why had he said the things he had?

There was also the tiny issue of his own hurt to be considered, the feelings that he had been used and discarded once again, but after a lifetime of acting as someone else's tool he easily pushed aside its relevance to the current matter. Acknowledging his insecurities had never been an option in his life and attempting to face them had proven to be painful. All his weaknesses, all his faults, came wrapped in golden hair and soft skin, and they had faced him with accusing sea blue eyes, and he had lashed out. It was ironic timing that she had been there, convenient and already vulnerable, when the rumors of her supposed infidelities (Infidelities to whom? She was not married, had no steady boyfriend, and he had no claim on her.) struck him with sudden bitterness and loathing. Though she had used him, she was not his, and he had wanted her to suffer for that as he had suffered with his uncertainties. Righteous indignation and self-loathing made for an interesting mix of emotions.

The troubled young man watched as the object of his thoughts reversed the bay's direction and sent it trotting in a counterclockwise circle around her. He shoved his hands into his pockets and pushed away from the doorframe. She must be nearly done with that one then since he knew that all the horses Relena kept were retired racers, and she devoted the first months of their arrival to building up the muscles on the right side of their bodies to equal those on the left. If she was working the bay on its left side then she was about to end the training session on a positive and relaxing note for the horse.

He said her name softly, tasting the syllables on his tongue and ignoring the sharp twinge in his chest, when she called the horse to her and offered it a treat from the front pocket of her shorts. Midmorning sunlight gleamed on the golden expanse of her bare legs and tangled in her ponytail, glittering where it was caught in the damp strands. Even relaxed and informal, looking like a normal girl instead of a powerful world leader, she was amazingly, classically beautiful. A pain of longing that was as much mental as it was physical struck him when she laid her cheek against the horse's forehead and ran a praising hand down the length of its jaw. He wished for the simplicity and surety he imagined the horse must feel as it basked secure in the knowledge of her lo-affection.

And he cursed himself for a fool, a cruel bastard. They had avoided one another by unspoken agreement since their confrontation in his office, interacting swiftly and emotionlessly on the occasions their respective positions brought them into contact. Even after he had realized his mistake he had said nothing because there was nothing he could say, certainly not in front of numerous witnesses. Her tearful eyes stared at him accusingly inside his mind, and his cheek burned with the phantom memory of her hand across it. He started to raise his own to his face, but realized what he was doing and folded his arms firmly across his chest.

Relena shaped the lounge line into a loose coil, leaving it in the center of the round pen, attached the shorter lead shank to the bay's halter and began to lead the horse back to the stables. As they grew closer and she recognized her silent guardian, Heero saw her eyes widen and her steps falter though she never stopped the cooing monologue that she directed at the horse in a soft undertone. He watched her lips move with a strange fascination and wondered what it was she said, wondered what she thought to see him standing there waiting for her.

* * *

"Well, Jacques, look who nasty mean Wufei has sent to watch us this morning. And this morning of all mornings! He's going to pay for this. But you! You're such a good boy, and I'm very proud of you!"

She stopped in front of Heero without a word, and the bay stopped at her side obediently, his head dropping as she absently scratched beneath his ear. Relena stared at Heero from their short distance apart, and he looked back silently, his expression guarded. She forced a caricature of a smile to her lips and attempted to banish her acute awareness of her disheveled, dirty, and sweat soaked appearance.

"Good morning. Hiroshi."

His eyes flickered for a moment at the use of his pseudonym, but he merely inclined his head in response. "Vice Foreign Minister."

"Come now, **Hiroshi** , we're old school friends. There's no need for titles."

"You saw me on the news." It wasn't a question. "Was there something else you wished me to say? The truth perhaps?"

Relena glanced down, biting her lip anxiously as she gathered her courage. She swallowed roughly and slowly raised her eyes to his. "No, I know you couldn't tell them the truth. I'm not even sure what the truth is anymore . . . but what you said . . . it hurt . . . to think that I meant nothing . . ."

"Then you know how I felt, how I've felt all my life."

Her face flushed with shame, and she stepped closer to the comforting bulk of the bay, twining her hand through his mane and drawing on his quiet strength. Mustering the nerve for one sentence was proving to be harder than any other speech she had ever made. "I think we really need to talk."

He straightened and closed the distance between them, pulling away a bit of hay stuck to her sleeve. His eyes searched hers, and she quivered with the repressed desire to move, though away or closer to him she did not know.

"Are you sure we haven't said all that needs to be said?" he inquired softly. "I'm a waste of your time."

"I was angry, Heero, and hurt. I didn't mean it."

"Yes, you did," he replied, taking the horse's lead from her and disappearing into the cool interior of the stables, leading Jacques back to his stall. "And I deserved it."

"No, Heero, you didn't. Would you stop for a minute and just listen to me? Hear me out, Heero, please!"

Relena followed him into the stall, a determined frown on her face, and he pulled the door closed behind them, turning the horse free. Heero tossed her a currycomb from the box of grooming supplies hanging beside the stall door and began toweling Jacques' legs and underside.

"You want to talk? Talk."

Relena pursed her lips thoughtfully and began sweeping the brush down the bay's neck in short, swift strokes. It would be easier to say without looking him, and she mentally thanked Jacques for providing that small favor. "What I did to you in your office that day, both days, was wrong. Wrong and cruel. But I can't change any of it now. You have every right to be angry with me, every right to demand reparation . . . or to demand that I be punished to the full extent of the law."

"What law?" he questioned abruptly from below Jacques' chin.

Relena stepped back, alarmed to find him so close and unable to read the expression on his face. Her voice broke as she forced the hateful words from her mouth, but she had promised herself to set things right. And for there to be rightness, painful honesty had to come first. "Heero, I . . . I forced you against your will . . . I ra-"

"Can't rape the willing," he muttered, moving back around to the horse's other side.

Anger surged through Relena. "Don't say that! Just because you're a man doesn't mean that you have to deny what happened! You shouldn't be ashamed! I'm the one that did a terrible thing when I forced myself on you."

He looked at her as if she was a simpleton. "Relena, you could not possibly have physically forced me to do anything if it was against my will. And before you say it, I'm quite capable of restraining any impulses and controlling my reactions, even where you're concerned."

"But-"

"I consented, Relena. You asked. You didn't say it out loud, but you asked, and I said yes. Your conscience should be safe."

She could not take in air fast enough, and her eyes prickled with the familiar liquid burning that signaled tears just waiting to fall. She leaned heavily against Jacques' side, counting on her horse for support when her legs went weak. "Then . . . why? I don't understand . . ."

"Think about it long enough, and I'm sure you will. For now let's just say the discovery of that card and the press's subsequent field day with it came at an . . . inopportune time."

An extended pause filled the air between them, broken only by the gentle, absent rasp of her comb through Jacques' coat, as she processed that cryptic bit of information. Though the desire to demand what it was that he meant rose strong within her, she owed him enough that she would do what he asked in this without question. If he wished for her to ponder his thought processes she would, and though perhaps not an enjoyable or easy task she hoped it would be beneficial in the future.

"I'm sorry," Relena said at last. "I'm so very sorry, Heero. For everything."

"I'm not," he responded curtly, discarding the long unused rag for another currycomb.

Relena stared at him over Jacques' back as her own comb fell from suddenly nerveless fingers. Her mouth worked several times before she finally forced out, "What?"

Heero refused to meet her eyes, gazing very steadfastly at the strokes of his comb on Jacques' coat. "I'm sorry for what happened," he clarified gruffly. "I'm not sorry for what we did."

She gaped at him, not daring to hope and feeling an odd kind of relief that the warm solidity of Jacques' body separated them. Thinking properly in physical proximity with Heero had always been next to impossible, and her wits were scattered enough as it was. "What does that **mean** , Heero?"

"What am I to you?" he countered, finally raising his head and meeting her incredulous gaze openly.

"I . . . you're . . . you're . . . you're **Heero** ," she stammered, a wealth of emotion permeating the only name she had ever had for him.

His lips twitched faintly, a strange light that set her stomach fluttering stirred in his eyes, and he opened his mouth to respond when Jacques snorted, swinging his head over the stall door and alerting them to the sound of approaching footsteps. They stilled, rather guiltily, and Heero's hand closed around his gun.

"Good morning, Vice Foreign Minister. I thought I'd find you in here with him," chirped a young female Preventer as she popped up over the stall door, rubbing the horse's nose affectionately and slipping him a sugar lump. She nodded to Heero. "Your shift's over, mate."

Heero nodded curtly, bending and handing Relena the comb she had dropped, his fingers slipping lightly over her hand. He gave his to the young Preventer and patted Jacques' shoulder, his eyes never leaving Relena's. "Give him some time. He hasn't adjusted to his new way of life yet and still has a hard time trusting people."

"But he'll come around eventually?" she questioned hoarsely.

"Yeah."

 

 **Next Chapter** : In which Wufei, in all his zeal to exact vengeance, messes things up.


	8. Allure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Relena's public appearance goes wrong and a couple "celebrates" their engagement. Also known as the Chippendale Wufei chapter...

Wufei stared intently at the wall of camera monitors he had installed in Relena's room as he drained his coffee cup. He grimaced at the bitter aftertaste left lingering in his mouth and tapped his fingers impatiently against his armrest.

The situation had gone from bad to worse. Relena had yet to overcome her bewilderment while Heero had become more frigid than ever despite Wufei's opening attempts to bring him to his senses, and everyone who knew them became quite uncomfortable in the face of their cold civility on the rare occasions their paths crossed. The tabloids were having a wonderful time splashing lurid headlines regarding the Vice-Foreign Minister across their front pages, and the leak had yet to be found. Une was furious of course, and Preventer security came out in full force every time there was a hint that Relena might make a public appearance though until today he had kept her safely ensconced on the grounds.

He glanced at the battered and ink covered calendar. It was the twenty-fourth. To say that he had misgivings about the upcoming public appearance was a vast understatement. Something had to be done and done soon. But what?

The Chinese man frowned as he considered how the public had turned on Relena once her purity came into question. She was still the same person. Why were they so blind that they could not see that? The entire situation should have never occurred. It was all a massive mistake. And it would have to be rectified very soon. His conscience demanded it, and Une required it. No matter what the cost. And it appeared that more extreme measures would be necessary. Relena would not be happy about that, but her happiness was a secondary consideration to her security.

A quiet knock sounded at the massively ornate door leading to Relena's suite, followed by Sally's lithe form sliding through the open crack.

"Relena's been dressed and prepped and is safely in the limo. Are you ready?" she asked, moving to stand beside him and staring at the angry and vocal crowds thronging the gate.

"As much as I'll ever be."

"It's disgusting," she remarked, jerking her chin at the protesters.

"Yeah. Let's go." Wufei grabbed his Preventer jacket and flung it over his shoulder.

Sally kissed him briefly on the cheek before they parted at the doorway. "Meet you at the ambassador's. Try not to get too angry. You know how bad that is for your blood pressure."

* * *

Relena stared out the limousine's dark tinted bulletproof windows anxiously as they pulled up outside Ambassador Windcreft's home. The police and the Preventer security force had roped off a walkway to both the doorway and the public speaking platform, but the hordes of people yelling and waving picket signs bearing her name paired with vulgar and derogatory statements pushed hard against the barricade. She swallowed nervously, searching for some sign of a friendly or at least familiar face.

There were none.

The door opened suddenly, and Heero loomed in it, his features black and nearly indistinguishable against the sunlight. He stretched out a hand, and her eyes widened. She started to reach for it hesitantly, wishing that she could see his eyes and expression well enough to read them, but the female delegate beside her quickly seized it, sending a quick flirtatious smile up at the dark Preventer as he escorted her out of the car and along the walkway.

Relena thought her heart had shattered at first, but then she realized she did not, could not, feel anything at all. She blanked her face carefully out of habit and climbed out of the limo unaided. She felt shrouded in a numb haze, barely registering the jeers that marked her appearance. He had **said** . . .

And suddenly, seemingly from out of nowhere, Wufei materialized at her side. His arm curled around her waist, and he pulled her close to him, supporting her body as they began their own slow, torturous progress between the barricades.

"How many times must I tell you to **stay in the car** until I get you out before it will sink in, Darlian? Do you realize at all what kind of position you just put yourself in?" he demanded in a harsh undertone.

"Did you see Heero?" Relena whispered, her voice tiny.

"Of course I saw, you foolish woman. And don't you dare get depressed and wishy-washy on me now. It was deliberate, but not in the way you think. He was doing his job," Wufei assured her bluntly. "You're the priority today so you get Preventer elite. Me. You're my responsibility, do you understand? And Sally should be nearby," he added grimly, eyeing the jeering crowd warily.

"She's the woman that slipped me that damn escort service card, the whole damn reason the whole world thinks that **I'm** a promiscuous whore."

"Watch your language. You're in public," he reminded her curtly. "Stay proud, stay strong, don't mention it, and don't believe it because it's not true." His arm tightened briefly in a comforting squeeze as he propelled her through the hordes of press and security.

"Says the guy who watches me in bed," she responding, needing the comfort of the familiar banter that had grown between them with a sudden ache in her heart.

"You weren't in a bed. Besides the job includes guarding my charges at all times . . . even during trysts. It's actually covered in training. 'How to be discrete when the breathing gets hot and heavy,'" he whispered back, answering her unspoken desire for reassurance and familiarity.

"You poor thing. I'm sure you were so miserable when that part was covered. Anyway it's easy for you to say to ignore it all, but you're not the one condemned for being human."

His arm around her waist stiffened, pulling her closer as his dark glare raked the crowd. "Ignore the unwashed masses. Let them wallow in their ignorance."

"You think everyone is ignorant if they happen to disagree with you," Sally remarked wryly as she appeared at Relena's side, looping her arm through the diplomat's and pulling them through the security personnel towards Windcreft's home.

"What are you doing?" Relena demanded at their sudden change in direction.

"Getting you inside as quickly as possible. There's been a change of plans. You won't be speaking publicly today. It'll be recorded and televised later."

"What? No!"

She dug in her heels and struggled in their respective grips. Sally shot her a sympathetic look but did not stop. Relena decided to try a different tactic and went absolutely limp in their arms, forcing them to drag her. Wufei snorted and swept her up in his arms, marching toward the entryway with the struggling woman beating his shoulders and writhing in his arms and Sally trotting beside them trying to talk some sense into Relena.

"Relena, you're making a scene!"

However, Relena's attention was not on the woman at her side. From her vantage point around Wufei's neck she could see Heero in front of them, and as he looked back and swept his eyes across the crowd as though he searched for something, he saw her. Their eyes locked over the widening gulf between them, and he shook his head once, curtly and deliberately. She watched him propel the lady diplomat he guarded toward the speaking forum with slightly more force than was necessary and jerk his head significantly at the door to the ambassador's home, his mouth rounding around a single syllable.

"Go."

With that, the fragile bubble of bitterness that had sheltered her gave into its widening cracks and shattered completely, thrusting her fully back into the chaos surrounding her-chaos that centered on and existed only due to her presence. And she could do nothing to prevent it, nothing to stop it, nothing but dig her nails into Wufei's shoulders and stare at her accusers in silent vehemence. Jeers erupted among the gathered protesters with renewed vigor when they realized that the Vice Foreign Minister's attention focused on them, and onlookers close enough to see what was happening on the walkway slung crude remarks at the Preventer cradling his ward.

"Going off to do your business so soon, Miss Relena? You give new meaning to the title **Vice** Foreign Minister, don't you?" one woman called from near the front, venom and menace oozing from her saccharine-sweet voice. "You do have good choice in men though; I'll give you that."

Sally glared warningly at the offender, her blue eyes flashing with violent promise. "That's my fiance you're talking about."

The woman and her companions fell silent as another group of Preventers closed ranks around the Vice Foreign Minister. Wufei shot Sally a wry look from the corner of his eye.

"Really?" he inquired drolly.

"Yes, Wufei, we're getting married. I'm not asking you again. Pick a date."

"Saturday?" he offered, amusement flickering across his harsh features.

Sally looked at Relena. "Saturday good for you?"

"Sure," she responded, a little dazed at the swiftness of the sudden odd turn of events.

Sally patted her arm comfortingly. "We can have my bachelorette party Friday night then."

Wufei started, jostling both the blonde in his arms and the one at his side. "What? No! Absolutely not! You are not going out alone to chase after men of few morals and fewer clothes armed with alcohol and dollar bills! Not ever and certainly not now!"

* * *

"So, Wufei, enjoying the show?"

The Chinese man shot a killing glare at his charge, but she merely stared back innocently. At her side Sally whooped as loud cheering erupted from the crowd of uninhibited women around them.

"Yeah, baby! Take it **off**!"

Relena flushed and averted her eyes. Wufei noted the stain creeping across her cheeks with unconcealed interest. He leaned across the small table, eyes mocking and smile toothy. "I should ask you the same question. Enjoying the show, Darlian?"

"Of course," she responded archly, swirling the straw in her barely touched drink.

"You might enjoy it more if you actually looked at them."

"My reputation's already ruined!" she hissed back. "What more do you want?"

"Then why not enjoy yourself? If you're going to be condemned you should at least be condemned for something you did."

"Logic like that doesn't work so well in politics."

"I say go for it," Sally remarked, setting her empty martini glass down decisively. "You've given so much to the world, and if they can't accept that you're grown up and a woman now . . . well, screw them."

"That's the problem," Relena moaned, bowing her head and raking a hand through her cascade of dye darkened ringlets.

"Well, if you're going to be miserable why don't we just leave?" Wufei asked, standing up from the small table. "It's not like those overgrown oafs on the stage are worth staying here."

Sally pouted and eyed him, a speculative gleam appearing in her eyes. "You think you could do better?"

"Of course," he shot back absently, calculating the quickest route to the exit.

"Prove it then."

Relena choked on her drink.

Wufei turned slowly. "What was that, woman?"

"You heard me. If you think you can do better then prove it. Wufei, get naked."

"I will not," he stated flatly.

"Challenge!" Sally sang back cheerfully. "You can't back out now."

"I'm rather sure it's not allowed . . ." Relena ventured timidly, staring firmly at the tabletop.

"We'll see," Sally answered with a catty smile, getting up and striding over to the dancing platform. One of the establishment's guards intercepted her, but she greeted him with a smile and after a moment's brief discussion he escorted her up to the dancing platform. She flashed a handful of money at the oiled dancer gyrating above her, and he obligingly bent down at her beckoning. She whispered furiously in his ear for a moment, gesturing back at the Chinese man glaring at them from several feet away. The dancer nodded finally and rose, sashaying his way back behind the curtain.

A chorus of disappointed moans and complaints rose from the woman lining the platform, several of them turning annoyed glares on Sally who just shrugged and smiled back sweetly. She had ensured that it was public knowledge at the club that she was getting married the next day, thus acquiring preferential treatment. This was her night, and all the guests knew it. After several moments the announcer emerged, microphone in hand and a broadly amused smile on her face. She made shushing motions with her hands and the crowd quieted.

"I hope all you ladies out there are having fun tonight!" she boomed, sweeping her free arm in a grand gesture.

"We **were**!" someone hollered from the back.

"Ah, well, about that . . . ," the announcer smirked. "All you ladies know that we aim to please and refuse to let a single customer leave dissatisfied. But, sad to say, we have a malcontent among us tonight."

Cries of disbelief met her announcement.

"That's right!" A spotlight landed on Wufei, blinding Relena behind him. "This fine young man here says he can do it better than our trained professional dancers. So not only is a customer disappointed with the show but he has insulted the quality of our service."

A chorus of catcalls met this announcement, and Relena found herself admiring the announcer's skill with the crowd. She played off of and controlled their emotions quite well.

"I know. He's such an awful fellow. But we're all about equality here so what do you say we give him the opportunity to put his money where his mouth is? It's what our lovely bride-to-be desires. Does everyone else agree?"

"Hell yeah! He's one hot son of a bitch!" Laughter and cheers broke out following this statement from an older woman, and the announcer winked exaggeratedly and beckoned to Wufei.

"You heard them, Wufei." Sally shoved him forward. "Get up there and make me proud."

He glanced back at her, raising one sardonic brow and barely suppressing a wicked smirk. She had turned this into a matter of pride. If Sally wanted a show, a show Sally would get. "What about the girl?"

Sally smirked back. "Don't worry. She'll be nearby." She winked. "She wants you, remember? Now don't start 'til I get up there. I want a perfect view."

Relena's head shot up in open alarm when Sally's hand clamped around her wrist.

"Wha . . .?"

"Come on!" Sally encouraged her, tugging her out of her chair. "There's no way you want to miss this!"

Relena stumbled as Sally pulled her through the crowd of raucous women. An oddly familiar looking young woman caught her elbow and steadied her, and Relena stared back at her curiously as she trailed Sally to the dancing platform. "Is he really going to do this?" she panted.

"Of course. Wufei never backs down from a challenge. You should know that."

They exploded forward next to the sweltering stage lights, Sally checking Relena sharply. The younger woman wobbled on her heels and jerked back with a muffled shriek when she realized her head was at eye level with Wufei's denim clad crotch.

He folded his arms across his chest and raised a mocking eyebrow as he stared down at her red face. A smirk spread across his features as a sultry, pulsating beat filled the air and the lights dimmed. He stepped back toward the center of the platform and pivoted slowly on his heel. He remained still for a moment, only his head bobbing slightly as he familiarized himself to the rhythm.

Then he danced.

It was like nothing Relena had ever seen before: a strange blend of the traditional stripping moves the other dancers had used and martial arts with just a little of Latin dance thrown into the mix. He taunted his audience with hints and flashes of beautifully toned skin and sculpted muscle, running his own hands teasingly across his shirt before removing it. The lucky few who pleaded and begged enough to satisfy his monstrous ego he rewarded with brushes from his stomach and hips as he danced close enough for them to shove money into the waist of his jeans. Sally screamed with gusto at Relena's side, her enthusiasm laced with joyous laughter as her intended revealed just a hint of how talented he would be in the bedroom.

Wufei's gyrations slowed into a gentle rocking motion as he pulled out his sidearm, and the women screamed louder at the introduction of what they believed to be an overtly sexual prop. His eyes locked onto Relena, his own challenge clear in his gaze as he bent to grasp her hand. She felt compelled to move to him, to obey him, the music singing through her blood and another pair of dark eyes staring out at her in her mind.

Wufei lifted her onto the stage easily and proceeded to twine himself around her, enticing her to participate in the dance with nudges of his body. Her arms wrapped around his bare torso of their own accord, and they moved together under the hot lights. His skin, warm and slick, slid beneath her hands as she clung to him, and as his own hands drifted over her curves, molding her to his body, she felt the first faint sparks of desire flare low in her stomach.

He slid the barrel of the gun lightly down the side of her cheek, and Relena shivered as the cold metal raised goose pimples on her fevered skin.

"Wicked fantasies, Darlian?" he whispered so lowly that she could barely hear him, but the effect was as great as throwing cold water on her.

Her eyes snapped open from where they had drifted lazily shut as the reality of what she was doing and who she was with crashed down on her. Heero would never dance with her like this, never tease her with a weapon, never bring her up on a stage and act out lovemaking, never put her in such a dangerous position. Certainly not now, with the public opinion so negative toward her. And under normal circumstances, neither would Wufei . . . so what was her bodyguard thinking?

The barrel brushed across her lips and continued down her throat. She swallowed, suddenly anxious. "Is that thing loaded?"

A smile curved his lips, and her pulse jumped in alarm. "Is that a proposition?"

"No," she replied unsteadily.

"Then yes," he responded, nuzzling her nose with his own. "It always is. Trust me?"

"No." This time her voice emerged more assured.

"Good," he breathed against her face, suddenly disentangling them and stepping back.

Relena slid to the floor of the dancing platform, unprepared for his sudden move and the resulting loss of support. Wufei stood above her, the gun leveled between her eyes.

"Look at it," his voice came to her, low and compelling. "Look, Relena. What do you see?"

Relena stared at the gun, noting how the spotlights seemed to reflect off etchings in its dark surface. She tilted her head to one side which revealed an image on the gun. A bird, fire streaming from its pinions.

"What do you feel? Show the world what you want, who you love. Show them, Relena. Show **him**."

Her breath caught in her throat, and her gaze jerked back up to his. He stared back quietly, shifting the weapon closer to her face. Relena hesitated only briefly before reaching for his wrist with both of her hands and drawing the barrel to her mouth. She surged forward on her knees, her mouth meeting the edge of the cold metal in a hesitant kiss as she closed her eyes. Wild cheers erupted from the women around her, but she was conscious only of the feel and taste of the metal on her lips and the flaming bird that seemed imprinted on the insides of her eyelids. The lights flashed off suddenly, darkening her blind view of the phoenix, and the music stopped. She opened her eyes, unable to see anything in the blackness, and Wufei hauled her to her feet.

"What's happening?" she demanded shakily as he pulled her behind him. Her body still hummed with unreleased tension, and her legs were wobbly and unsteady.

"Show's over," he responded tersely. "Time to go home."

"You're not telling me everything!"

"I never do. Things are going according to plan, don't worry."

Bright bursts of blue and yellow light punctuated the darkness around them as he dragged her to the back of the stage. She inhaled sharply and dug her nails into his wrist. "You planned this? Wufei, those are cameras! Cameras aren't supposed to be allowed in here!" she hissed furiously. "Are you sure you don't want to clue me in on this 'plan' of yours since I **do not** like where it seems to be going!"

"Things always have to get worse before they get better," he responded blandly. "Heero is the only person whose opinion really matters to you, isn't it?"

"That's hardly relevant now since you've just managed to ruin all the progress I'd made and confirm what he originally thought about me!"

He spun her and shoved her up against the wall of the backstage. "You really should remember to tell me these things next time then," he warned as he loomed over her. "What progress? What did he say?"

"To give him time to come around," she whispered tremblingly, her stomach sinking with horror as she realized that after all the trouble at the press conference several days ago she had forgotten to inform Wufei of her conversation with Heero earlier that morning.

Wufei swore softly and released her, his knuckles turning white around the limp bundle of his shirt and jacket. "This complicates matters."

Anger surged through Relena, and she wished illogically that he would put on his shirt so she could choke him with it. She settled for shoving him across the narrow hallway and stepping deliberately onto his feet to decrease the difference in their heights. Ignoring the curious faces of the dancers and other staff peering around doorways up and down the hall, she clenched her fists and stared heatedly into Wufei's eyes from scant inches away. "You will explain to me how making me look like the whore everyone thinks I am is supposed to help me win Heero back. **Now** , Wufei."

"You always want what you can't have?" he offered with a shrug.

Her mouth worked furiously for several seconds, but she was so incensed that sound refused to come out.

"Look, it'll be okay. I promise." He patted her awkwardly on the shoulder, his expression wary as he slowly eased her tense form off his feet. "I screwed up. I'll fix it."

"I don't think you can," she bit out tersely before turning and storming down the hall in search of Sally, leaving scantily clad muscular dancers that towered over her cringing in her wake.

Sally was waiting for them in the doorway of a vacant dressing room and, noticing Relena's shell-shocked expression, clapped her on the back. "I stand corrected, Wufei. You two were amazing!" She turned her openly amused gaze to Relena and shook her head wryly. "As for you, I'm not sure whether to be jealous or ask you to form a threesome."

"You wouldn't," Wufei responded from the depths of his shirt. "You're too selfish."

"This isn't happening to me," Relena muttered to herself, sinking down in a chair. She needed something simple and mundane to concentrate on, preferably something with few blatantly sexual connotations, and sweeping her gaze across the mostly bare room and by consequence unintentionally across Wufei's firm backside she found it.

"That argument won't work here, Wufei. I'd have twice the fun, twice the pleasure." Sally's eyes twinkled merrily, and he opened his mouth to retort when he suddenly noticed that she was not looking at him. Those sparkling eyes were focused on something behind him. Something whose hand had wormed its way into his pants and then retreated.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, whirling around.

Relena glanced up at him dismissively from the wad of money she was thumbing through. "Counting my money."

"Your money, Darlian?" he asked, incredulity and menace coloring his tone. "My money."

She tossed her head, glaring up at him defiantly. "I earned it just as much as you did! Maybe more so! You. Owe. Me."

"I don't think so," he growled, taking a threatening step forward only to be halted by Sally's outstretched arm.

"Let it go, Wufei. It's been a perfect night. A smashing success!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, Sally does not know about Wufei's little "plan." If she did, do you really think she'd be so happy? But she finds out in the next chapter...


	9. Thrill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are confrontations galore and shots are fired.

"Smashing success, indeed," Wufei muttered caustically over his morning coffee. Relena had banished him back to his personal office in a fit of feminine hysteria, and he was only now beginning to realize how cramped and cluttered the small room was. The morning newspaper lay haphazardly on his desk where he had thrown it, the headline "Vice Foreign Minister Makes Love Not War" blazing in large block letters above a zoom picture of a dark-haired Relena giving a handgun the blow job of its existence. He cast a shrewd glance at his office clock. Yuy was nothing if not punctual, and he was due to arrive at work in . . . about three seconds.

Three . . .

Two . . .

One . . .

Wufei turned to face his door just as it flew open. Agent Hiroshi Yugen stalked in, danger and tightly reined rage exuding from his every pore. He slammed another copy of the newspaper down atop Wufei's own, one finger jabbing harshly into the newsprint as he demanded, "Just what the hell is this?"

"A photograph of Relena," Wufei replied calmly, taking another sip of his coffee, "with dark hair. And curls."

"That's not what I'm talking about, and you know it!" Heero snarled, bracing himself on the desktop and glaring murderously up at his superior through a tangle of dark hair.

"Really?" Wufei asked mildly, his own gaze sharpening. "Perhaps you could clarify the matter you wish me to explain?"

"Look at what she's doing."

The security director shrugged. "Rather foolish, but nothing as dangerous or life threatening as some of the other stunts she's pulled."

Heero pointed at a small, puckered scar on the side of the wrist attached to the hand holding the gun. "Is this familiar to you? Because it is to me," he added grimly.

Wufei glanced carelessly down at the picture and raised his own right hand, turning it to the side. "I do have a scar that is remarkably similar," he acknowledged, carefully maintaining the mask of cool indifference necessary to keep Yuy off balance and less dangerous.

"Is it real?"

"My scar?"

"The picture!" Heero snarled, his voice ragged and harsh. "Is the fucking picture real?"

"While I cannot vouch for the validity of this particular photograph the events it depicts did indeed occur last night."

Wufei's painstakingly nursed cup of coffee shattered against the far wall as Heero lunged across the desk, seizing hold of Wufei's uniform and tightening the stiff material around his neck. They struggled for a moment, but Heero's emotional turmoil and the expanse of the desk between them kept him from getting the proper leverage needed to shut off Wufei's air supply.

They locked eyes, Heero's darker than normal with chaotic emotions and Wufei's filled with a fierce pity that enraged Heero. However, pity did not equal mercy, and Wufei landed a sharp blow across Heero's face, knocking him away. The two men stared at one another with intense, cruel eyes. Heero wiped the blood from his mouth and straightened slowly.

"Wufei, it's almost time to-What the hell is going on in here?" Sally demanded as she slipped into the room. She shut the door behind her hurriedly and stared from one stiff-legged combatant to the other.

Neither man took his eyes off the other as Wufei answered her. "It doesn't matter, Sally, so go away."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," she snapped with a glare at the two of them. "And it does too matter! Heero's bleeding!"

Heero glanced over at her almost casually. "This isn't about you. And we don't want to hurt you." He turned his attention back to Wufei, continuing in a tone that was not quite conversational, "I was the one who was supposed to be adjusting to the new dynamic between us." He laughed bitterly. "And then she does this."

Wufei eyed him imperiously as he adjusted his uniform back to its usual non-strangling state. "You're out of line, Preventer Phoenix." He flung Heero's paper back at him. "And your powers of observation are lacking. If you had looked closely you would have noticed that's your gun. Not mine." He tapped the faint outline of the Preventer logo with the fiery bird stretched in flight above it.

Heero's eyes narrowed as he studied the image, and he jerked his head up, suspicion and anger still evident in his face. "Are you trying to set me up?"

Wufei barked a short, harsh laugh. "I'm trying to open your eyes."

"Really."

"You may enjoy being miserable but don't you dare make **her** unhappy. Not when she is my responsibility," Wufei said, leaning forward across his desk, his voice filled with protective intensity.

Heero raised mocking eyebrows and crumpled the picture in his hand. "You seem to be handling your 'responsibilities' quite well."

The shorter man cast a sidelong glance at his subordinate and muttered, "You have no idea."

"What was that?" Heero demanded angrily.

Sally checked Heero's forward movement and inserted herself firmly between the two. "I am still here, and I am still waiting for an explanation. And if you dare patronize me again, I promise you will live to regret it," she added with a glare. "You two may be assassins, but I'm a doctor. I know more about pain and nerve endings than you ever will. Now back off and start talking."

Heero drew himself to his full height, his body tense with warning as he met Sally's gaze. "Consider this a favor. You won't be getting another one."

She folded her arms across her chest, not in the least intimidated. "I'll keep that in mind. Now, why don't you tell me why you're fighting with my fiance on our wedding day? It's a good thing it's just a civil ceremony or I'd have a fit about what you've done to the pictures. And I don't doubt that he deserves it, but I would like to know why."

For the first time, Heero appeared truly startled. "You're getting married? To Wufei?"

"In about an hour."

"Why?" The word slipped out without conscious thought, and Sally suppressed a wry smile.

"When I figure it out I'll let you know. But why were **you** fighting?"

"Forget it. It's not important."

"Really, Yuy?" Wufei remarked snidely. "It's not important? You are dismissed. **Get. Out.** And don't **bother** to come back."

Heero turned and stalked for the door, throwing a parting remark over his shoulder. "You don't know what you're doing, Sally."

"OUT!"

Heero wrenched the door open, only to come face to face with a pair of vivid sea blue eyes.

"Get back in there, Heero," Relena murmured quietly, her low tone unable to disguise the firmness of the words.

"No."

"Yes," she answered, taking a resolute step forward as her hand rose to hover over his chest though she took care not to touch him. "We are going to do what we should have done at the very beginning. We are going to sit down, and we are going to talk together like adults and explain just what the hell is going on here, and we will do it in a civilized manner. Now get in that office! That is an order, Preventer!"

He did not give way, and her eyes darted to the floor. Heero heard her sigh as she removed her hand from the air between them. "You said that you could control yourself even where I was concerned. Prove it, Heero."

He stepped back without a word, and she followed him in. Wufei looked up with an annoyed expression that was quickly veiled when Relena stepped out from behind Heero and pinned him with an ominous glare. "Just shut up, Chang. I am still very unhappy with you. We're going to try things **my** way this time."

"Oh good," Sally remarked with grim anticipation. "Maybe now that you're here the boys will be more willing to provide straight answers."

Relena shut the door behind her and locked it. She turned slowly to the three pairs of wary eyes watching her and clasped her hands demurely in front of her. "Please," she smiled frigidly, command clear in her voice. "Sit."

Sally and Wufei sunk slowly into their seats, but Heero remained where he was, chin raised.

"You prefer to stand, Heero? Very well, but do it about three feet back. We're making a circle." Relena unceremoniously dumped a stack of Wufei's books in the floor and pulled the newly empty chair forward. "Circles facilitate discussion," she informed them with false cheer. "There's an equality among participants that you just can't get with any other geometric seating arrangement."

She beckoned to Wufei and Sally to drag their chairs closer, and when they had maneuvered through Wufei's belongings closely enough to suit her, she crossed her legs daintily and directed her intent gaze to Heero. "Heero, you're the most wronged so you go first."

"I don't share feelings."

Relena propped her head on her hands, her lips pursing in displeasure. "I never mentioned feelings, Heero. Just tell us what you know."

He remained silent and she sighed, shifting position in her seat though her earnest stare never left his face. "Fine. Will you answer questions then?"

He raised one eyebrow, fully aware of the more subtle implications in her question. Would he ever talk to her again? Something shifted in her eyes at his continued silence, and his chest tightened. "Yes," he acknowledged briefly, slowly edging into the gap she had left for him.

Her hands tangled together in her lap as she angled her face toward the open window, glancing at him from the corners of her eyes. "The reason you and Wufei fought is that photograph, correct?"

"Affirmative," he replied flatly.

"Do you believe Wufei and I to be romantically involved?" she dropped the question with deliberate casualness, as if she was merely reflecting musingly upon the weather.

Heero stiffened, his hard eyes swinging to her profile, and she tilted her head back, gazing at him expressionlessly.

"Do you, Heero?"

"It is . . . unlikely." He pronounced the word with methodical stiffness.

Relena's eyes flickered down to her clasped hands before darting back to his face. The skin stretched tight and white over her knuckles, and she slowly unlaced her fingers and shifted them from her lap to the chair arms.

"Would you give us a moment's privacy please?" She directed the question at Sally, choosing the older woman as both the more reasonable and dominant of the pair.

Sally nodded and rose, her hand closing around Wufei's forearm.

"Not in my office, Darlian," Wufei hissed, leaning forward but otherwise refusing to be budged. "You're not making up here!"

"You have a filthy mind, Mr. Chang. I simply would like to speak with Heero privately," Relena responded with a formality ill suited to the routine bickering he had become accustomed to with the progression of their friendship, and Wufei relented, however grudgingly, at her reserved manner.

"You have two minutes."

She saw them out the door with the gracious aloofness of a monarch before slumping against her chair. Relena massaged the bridge of her nose wearily and rose without a word, wandering to the door and turning the lock behind them. She turned around and leaned heavily against the door, her head bowed and eyes closed. Heero stood across from her silently, his frame stiffening as the seconds ticked by.

"I'm sorry," the ragged whisper finally came from beneath a sheltering waterfall of blonde hair. "It's so inadequate a response to the depth to which I've wronged you . . . but I am sorry."

"That doesn't clarify anything."

"What is the picture, you mean?" She raised her head, a bitter self-deprecating smile tugging her lips as their eyes met. "It's real for one thing."

The atmosphere around Heero quickly shifted, becoming at once wary and dangerous. She had hurt him and backed him into a corner, and like a wild animal he would retaliate if pressed. And though she trembled, she did not look away from what she had done to him.

"I don't even know why I did it. We were celebrating Sally and Wufei's engagement, and he ended up on the stage as a dare. And somehow I ended up there too . . ."

"You don't remember? Were you drunk?"

"No. It'd be easier if I had that excuse. I got caught up in the moment I guess, but that doesn't justify it. I don't have any excuses, Heero. I did it, it happened, and I regret it."

"You don't seem to understand the severity of the situation. He took something that was mine."

Relena's eyes widened, and a tiny bubble of hysterical laughter escaped her. "I know. I probably would have danced with Wufei regardless, but I wouldn't have done **that** if it hadn't been your gun. And that picture is very misleading."

Heero's eyes widened with surprise as she completely missed his point, but her response had been intriguing. "Why?"

"Why is the picture misleading?"

"Why wouldn't you have done it if it wasn't mine?"

She gaped at him and sputtered, her entire face flushing with color. "There's quite a bit of phallic symbolism there."

The faintest hint of red darkened his cheeks, but his expression did not change. "What does that have to do with me specifically?"

Relena pushed away from the door and closed some of the distance between them. "For reasons I cannot begin to fathom I have been fixated on you since we met. I don't want anyone else."

"So how is the picture misleading?" he queried calmly, seemingly unaffected by her declaration though his heart rate increased drastically beneath the concealing layers of his uniform.

She scowled, annoyance written clearly across her face as her eyes darted automatically behind him to the incriminating picture. "I didn't try to swallow the barrel, phallic symbolism or not. That's the most scandalous angle imaginable."

"Then what exactly did you do to my gun?"

"I kissed it."

"How?"

She blinked rapidly. "What?"

Heero raised his right arm between them, his index finger pointing at her mouth, the rest of his fingers curled in toward his palm. "I need to know how thoroughly to clean it. Show me how you kissed it."

Relena flinched, but closed her eyes and leaned forward slowly. Her lips quivered as they came into contact with his skin and parted a little, pillowing the extended digit but remaining chaste. Her eyes grew damp and a few stray tracks traveled down her cheeks only to be abruptly brushed away. Her eyes shot open in near alarm. Heero had stepped closer, his free hand cupping her face as his thumb smoothed the wetness on her skin.

"Heero?" her voice wavered around his finger, and he removed his hand from her mouth, sliding it back until he cradled her head.

"Why?" he questioned hoarsely.

"I don't know," she whispered back, and he pulled her to him. Relena buried her head in his chest but her heads remained firmly clenched at her sides. "But I'm sorry . . . for everything."

His grip on her tightened, and he smoothed her hair down her back. "Relena . . . I didn't mean the gun when I said Wufei had taken something that was mine."

She inhaled sharply and stiffened in his grasp, but whatever she might have said or done in response was lost as yelling erupted in the hallway.

"All right, your time is up! Damn it, woman, let go! You've already given them extra!" There was a brief pause as Sally answered him in a low voice, but Wufei's belligerence swiftly rose in volume again. "I don't care! Let them reconcile in **your** office if you're so keen about it!"

Relena chuckled against Heero's chest, and he looked down at her curiously. She rubbed her forehead against his shirt and her voice emerged muffled but still warm with dry amusement. "This is never going to be easy, is it? Though I suppose it was never meant to." She pulled away from him and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Shall we hear his explanation now?"

"Let's," Heero agreed coldly, his eyes narrowing at the door quivering under the force of Wufei's pounding.

"Darlian! If I have no qualms about breaking down your door, what makes you think I'll have any about mine?"

"Well, you haven't done it yet," Relena deadpanned as she yanked the door open, very nearly sending Wufei tumbling headfirst onto the carpet.

He glared at her and stalked into the room, eyes raking its contents as well as their clothes for any signs of disarray caused by their "reconciliation."

"We didn't have sex," Heero stated flatly, settling in the chair he had previously refused and folding his arms across his chest.

Wufei's eyes narrowed, and his mouth opened to form some scathing retort but Relena swiftly monopolized the dialogue.

"Wufei, I'd like for you to explain what happened at the club last night."

Sally glanced between them, a puzzled line creasing her brow. "You were there, Relena."

The younger woman shook her head. "You haven't seen the papers today, have you?"

Heero extended his battered copy, and Sally unfolded it slowly. Her nostrils flared as her eyes widened, her skin stretching tight and pale across her knuckles as two spots of color erupted high on her cheeks. Her head turned with exaggerated slowness to her fiance.

"Chang. Wufei. Start. Talking. Now."

He raised his chin defiantly and shrugged. "My plan backfired."

"Plan? Plan! Cameras are banned in the club, and the place was crawling with undercover Preventers! So how did this happen? Don't tell me you planned **this**!"

"Fine then. I won't."

"Preventers?" Relena repeated with alarm, remembering the strangely familiar woman who had kept her from tripping. "The Preventers were there?"

"Yes," Sally answered her with a nod. "For your protection."

"And they saw me acting like that? How are they supposed to have any respect for me now?"

Wufei snorted. "They were all women. They'd have done exactly the same thing."

"Damn it, Wufei," Sally snarled. "You're not irresistible. What the hell kind of plan did you have?"

"He wanted to make me jealous," Heero said quietly and everyone turned to look at him. He stared at Wufei. "Congratulations. You succeeded."

"You always want what you can't have," Relena whispered with a vacant stare as she recalled her argument with Wufei backstage.

Wufei walked over to the window and raised one hand to the glass. "The plan had two stages. The first part was to make Heero realize what an idiot he was by believing what he'd heard about Relena's love life from the tabloids."

"Thus your sudden interest in sex education for all the younger operatives," Sally realized. "I had wondered why . . ."

"The second part," Wufei forged on as though Sally had not interrupted him, "was to make Heero think about what a desirable woman Relena truly is and to cause him to agonize over not having her." He leaned his head on his arm and smiled venomously at Heero. "'You can't have her anymore, Yuy. What ya gonna do now, huh?' And you reacted just the way I'd expected . . . well, except for ravishing her to prove your claim. But that will come later, right?"

Heero made an enraged inarticulate noise low in his throat, but a quick glance at Relena kept him from rising and beating the shit out of his superior.

The Vice Foreign Minister stood straight and tall, her demeanor regal and untouchable. She smiled coldly, though the edges of her lips seemed straining to hold the shape. "I thank you for your efforts on my behalf, Preventer Dragon, but such intervention is no longer necessary nor was it ever welcome. You will desist at once."

"You ordered me to help you, Relena, or have you forgotten that?"

"I never wanted this." She spread her arms to indicate the paper, the tension in the room, everything that had gone so very wrong. "Not any of it."

"What's done is done," Heero stated, rising from his seat abruptly. "Now we move on. And don't you have a wedding to be getting to?"

Sally smiled stiffly. "I think it'll wait until we get there. They can't have it without us after all."

"But we can't just leave things like this!" Desperation tinged Relena's voice, and both Heero's and Wufei's heads jerked toward her with concern clear in their expression. She stared at Heero pleadingly. "I can't just 'move on.' Not with the public opinion the way it is toward me. And I can't give them a true explanation for that picture. 'My bodyguard wanted to make one of his subordinates jealous so he planted a camera crew in a strip club he knew I'd be at and set me up.' No one would believe that. I can't do my job. I can't change public opinion. I can't do **anything**!"

"I'm sure Wufei will think of something." Sally wrapped an arm reassuringly around Relena's shoulders. "He got you into this mess, and he can get you out. Can't you, **dear**?" She bared her teeth at her fiance in a grotesque and threatening imitation of a smile. "And until he does there will be **no** honeymoon."

Wufei stared aghast at her, the second hand of his clock suddenly sounding very loudly in his ears. Une had already "talked" to him privately about the problem, and now Sally was withholding sex? Desperate times called for desperate measures, and if Relena and Heero weren't about as desperate as two people could get then **he** was.

* * *

"Why?"

"Careful, Darlian, you're approaching a whine," Wufei retorted, a small smile lighting his face as he basked in the delight of his renewed bantering with Relena. Though she had not forgotten the incident with the strip club photo three days ago (and indeed there was no way she could forget it) she had forgiven him. Or so she said. The status quo had been restored between them regardless.

She straightened, glaring at him. "I quite assure you that I despise my feminine weaknesses," acid dripped from the words, "especially in regard to Heero. However, I cannot help but wish to indulge in them upon discovering that my chief and most trusted guard will not be accompanying me tomorrow and will be replaced by said Heero who, might I remind you, has yet to start behaving normally around me, indeed has barely spoken to me, despite saying that we should all move on. And I cannot help but feel that my mental and emotional security, if not my physical, will be compromised by being forced into close proximity with a man whom I have slept with but do not know if I have a future with . . . due in part to interference on your part."

He maneuvered around her in the cluttered space of his office, shoving various papers and gadgets into a duffel bag. "You worry too much."

She gawked at him. " **You** didn't just say that."

"Yes, I did." Wufei reloaded his firearm with a snap. "Whatever his personal failings, Heero will protect you competently."

"You're disregarding the point I'm trying to make just to annoy me, aren't you?"

"Of course. I can't come with you today. I have a critical assignment elsewhere. Classified so don't ask."

He slung his packed bag over his shoulder and pulled her out of his office. Her hand snagged the knob and the door shut behind them with an enthusiastic bang. All activity in the complex ceased as everyone turned to stare at them, but Wufei ignored them all, turning to her with a raised eyebrow at her apparel.

"Scarlet?"

She shrugged. "If I'm going to be considered a fallen woman I might as well dress the part."

He laughed. "What a wonderful idea. Remind me to buy you an A to put on your other clothes." He reached out, catching her by surprise, and gently smoothed the lapels of her jacket and adjusted her business tie. His hands rose to her face, and he pulled her forward so that they stood with their foreheads gently touching. "Heero cares. He does. And you can do this. Just remember to wear your vest. You'll be fine."

* * *

Relena shifted nervously on the hard leather seat of the limo. Heero sat across from her, arms crossed and eyes averted, brooding. Her palms were slick and hot with sweat, and she smoothed them down the legs of her pantsuit. She saw his eyes focus on the motion and quickly jerked her hands away, twisting them nervously in her lap.

She realized that she was scared, though of Heero's seeming indifference or of the crowd that awaited her she was not sure, and being scared frightened her more than anything else. She was never afraid. Never. At that moment Relena wished for nothing more than Wufei's combative but soothing presence and the comfortable banter that had sprung up between them, both forming and sustaining their relationship. A traitorous part of her mind also directed her to thinking of all the fun things she and Heero could be doing right now if only he would acknowledge what was between them.

Relena sighed, disgusted with herself. The temptation to do some seducing was most definitely there and growing stronger, but it did not seem like a wise course of action at the current time. She had sworn to herself to never force herself on him again. She had wronged him before, and she would not do it again.

The limo pulled to a gentle stop, and the roar of the crowd greeted Relena's ears when Heero slipped out of the car to confer with security. He reappeared a moment later, stretching one hand to her, his eyes calm and shuttered. She closed her fingers around his, deliberately squeezing as hard as she could, but he remained unaffected except to adjust his own grip on her hand slightly. Relena slid across the seat and stepped out into the sultry, muggy summer air. Sweat dampened tendrils of hair clung to her forehead, and she could feel her make-up beginning to run. Her crimson pantsuit itched and confined her. She felt unclean, soiled, as the once adoring masses jeered at her appearance, but she still had her pride. The few interspersed and muffled cheers from her remaining supporters strengthened her resolve to refuse to show how injured she was. She stood proudly as words flung at her by the crowd stabbed like knives into her heart, and from the corner of her eye she saw the tendons along Heero's jaw and forehead start to stand out.

She released his hand, though their sweat dampened fingers were reluctant to separate and clung to each other's hand for a minutely longer interval, and strode to the podium. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentle-"

"Shut up slut!" a group of teenagers roared back at her.

Her few supporters took offense to those words.

It was unclear which side threw the first punch, but in a matter of seconds a riot had broken out in the crowd below the podium. She could hear Une's voice crackling over Heero's radio as he grabbed her arm and started dragging her across the speaker's platform.

"Phoenix, get her out of there now!"

Relena jerked away from Heero's grip, the whole surreal fight claiming her complete attention, and ran back for the microphone.

"Stop it, everyone, please! There's no need to fight-" Her words died in her throat as she caught the furtive movements of a dark figure on one of the rooftops across the street.

Sunlight glinted off the length of a long range rifle.

A sniper.

The sniper did not use a silencer. The sharp crack as the gun discharged froze the crowd, freeing them from their senseless rage, and their faces jerked up as one just in time to see Relena fall.

Absolute chaos erupted.

Relena blinked slowly as the screaming, high and shrill with panic, battered her eardrums around the pain in her chest. She seemed to fall for an eternity. Then she hit the wood of the speaking platform, her head cracking sharply on the hard surface. Her breath was ripped from her throat in short labored gasps, and she could not answer the person who was calling her name so very close, fear and loss thick in his voice.

Heero?

Everything was so bright, and the colors and shapes of things swirled crazily in her vision.

He appeared over her head, his shaking hands cupping her cheeks as he called to her again. His mask of composure had shattered into a thousand diamond hard shards, and each one of them pierced straight into the core of her being.

Heero.

How she longed to smooth the stricken look from his face.

But her head and chest hurt so much . . .

"Get back!" Sally's voice, high and brisk, fell on her ears as the medic unceremoniously shoved Heero out of the way. "Relena, look at me. Just keep looking at me, okay?"

Others pushed in behind her, hands clutched at her clothing and lifted her, and Relena found herself shoved into a white box, Sally beside her but Heero trapped on the other side of the doors. Sally's cool fingers stroked her forehead as the wail of an emergency siren howled across the summit's speaking grounds. "You did good, sweetie. You're okay. Just close your eyes and go to sleep."

Before Relena lost consciousness an indignant thought flitted through her mind.

That's not what you tell someone who's dying . . .


	10. Charm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are discussions in a hospital and another, more successful, press conference.

"Yes, she is awake, and no, you can't see her." Sally folded her arms across her chest and stood firmly in Heero's path, blocking his way to the closed off ward that housed Relena. "Visitor access is extremely limited at this time due to her weak condition, and quite frankly I don't think she's up to seeing you at the moment. She doesn't need the emotional turmoil that you two tend to inspire in one another."

His fists clenched at his side. "You are going to let me in there."

"No, I am not," she snapped back, and the row of guards behind her obligingly drew their guns and trained them on Heero. "I am sorry, I really am, but if you do not desist at once, Preventer Phoenix, I will have you court-martialed!"

The pair stood toe to toe and nose to nose, Heero silent but humming with unreleased violence and Sally quivering with the effort not to flinch away from the threat he presented. Fortunately, their battle of wills was interrupted by the Chinese man bursting out of the elevator doors.

"Sally! I got here as soon as I could. How is she?" Wufei called as he jogged down the hallway, his appearance disheveled and harried.

Sally slipped around Heero to meet her husband and tugged on his arm. "She's been asking for you. Go right on down that hall. Hers is the only room with a patient. You can't miss it." She bit her lip as she watched him depart before the soft sound of shoes sliding across linoleum followed by the sharp inhalation of one of the guards drew her attention. She whirled and pointed her finger at Heero, who froze mid- step. "You can leave or you can stay out here. Those are your only options, Yugen. Don't make it necessary for me to file a compliant against you." She turned on her heel and strode down the hallway after Wufei's retreating form.

Heero snarled with barely restrained fury and turned to leave. Though he could easily remove the row of armed obstacles blocking the ward it would cause unnecessary unpleasantness, possibly including his dismissal from the Preventers. There were other ways to get in after all.

Une met him as he stalked out the electronic doors of the entrance, and he stopped and snapped into a salute with automatic precision and swiftness.

"Yugen, I'm going to need a full report from you detailing your reasons for being unable to prevent this event from occurring. On my desk in two hours," she added grimly, breezing past him.

Heero's fist smashed into the side of the building, and he slumped against the brick wall. "Damn it."

* * *

Relena opened her eyes and turned her head as Sally opened the door to her room. A brilliant smile lit her face when she saw Wufei trail in behind his wife.

"You came. I'm so glad you're here," she whispered, beckoning him to her bedside. "Come talk to me and make everything okay again."

Wufei's expression softened almost helplessly, and puzzled concern flickered in his eyes as he approached. His gaze moved to the hospital gown covering her chest, staring piercingly as though he could see straight through the cloth to the wound below.

"Closer. I can't talk very loud."

He sat down in the chair by the bed and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the mattress. Relena shifted to face him, and her hands shot up to wrap around his throat. She squeezed and dragged his gasping face down to hers.

"You bastard," she snarled in his face before her voice rose to a harsh, accusing bellow. "You **shot** me!"

"Excuse me, Miss Relena, but I'd appreciate it if you would unhand my subordinate." Steel lurked beneath the surface of Une's dry amusement.

Relena and Wufei slowly turned their heads to the side. The Preventer commander leaned nonchalantly against the doorframe.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Miss Une. Wufei has yet to explain to me why he felt the need to shoot me," Relena answered politely, her grip around Wufei's neck tightening.

"Maybe you should let go of him first," Sally suggested absently while scribbling notes on Relena's chart. She sounded remarkably unconcerned about her husband's welfare. "It's rather hard to talk when you can't breath."

"Oh, he's fine," Relena assured her.

"I know, but it's the principle of the thing," Sally replied as she walked over to the bed. Relena watched in dismay as the medic inserted a hypodermic needle into her arm. "It's just a very mild sedative," Sally said with a comforting pat. "You won't even go to sleep, but you've had a very stressful day and you need to relax."

She gently removed Relena's hands from her husband's windpipe and unceremoniously shoved Wufei back into his chair. Sally loomed over her husband, her eyes menace filled blue slits and her hands on her hips. "You have some explaining to do, mister," she hissed. "Start talking."

Une shut the door quietly behind her and came to stand beside Sally. Wufei held up admirably under their combined glare, raising his chin defiantly. "I was simply following orders. Yours," he stated, directing his sharp stare to Une.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You instructed me to fix the problem between Yuy and Relena."

"Killing the Vice Foreign Minister wasn't exactly the solution I had in mind."

"You knew," Relena's low voice interrupted them, and they turned. She stared almost blankly at Wufei, her eyes hazy from the sedative. " You knew I was wearing the vest. That's why you were so nice to me-so you could check for it . . ." He flinched at the hurt in her tone. "And that's why you told me that as long as I wore it I'd be fine. But . . . why?"

"Why did I shoot you? To force Yuy to face his fears, his emotions regarding you. To force him to choose between what he knows to be true and what the public thinks is true."

"And what is true?"

"That you are hopelessly, ridiculously in love with him. And that although he would hate to admit it he loves you too."

"Don't you think your method was a little excessive?" Sally sighed, fiddling with one braid in obvious agitation.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," he intoned.

"I'm not that desperate," Relena remarked petulantly from her prone position. "He wasn't really crying, you know," she stated dreamily to the air. "But . . . I do think it scared him. Badly. His face . . . Wufei, I didn't want it to be like this!"

"Of course you didn't," he snapped, folding his arms across his chest. "I know that. If everything had worked out the way you wanted it to he'd be chained to your bed right now."

Sally hit him on Relena's behalf. "Be nice, Wufei."

Une looked at the three of them and massaged her temples. "There will be an investigation. Heero should be filing a report of his version of events right now. So what are we to say regarding this incident? The truth is obviously out of the question."

"Not really. Someone dissatisfied with the public perception of me decided to put me out of my misery," Relena mumbled, struggling to raise her arm to her chest. "Sally, what did you **do** to me? And why do I still hurt if I was wearing the vest when I was shot?"

"Hurting is better than dead," Sally answered mildly. "There's still an impact where the bullet hits you, even with the vest. You've got quite a large bruise on your chest and all the air knocked out of you. Then when you fell you hit your head. That's why you're still so achy and muddled."

"Thank you so much, Wufei." Sarcasm dripped from Relena's voice. " I'm sure Heero wants a battered addlebrained woman."

The Chinese man stood up and walked to her bedside. "If he doesn't then he's more of an idiot than I've ever believed." His fingers touched her cheek gently before sliding up to soothe the purplish swelling on her temple. "You are a strong, beautiful, intelligent woman. Any man would be honored to be loved by you."

"Ahem, Wufei, marriage," Sally coughed.

"Woman, I am trying to have a moment!" he mock growled. "And weren't you the one who suggested the threesome?"

"Oh, you know I didn't mean that!"

"Really?"

"I thought you meant it," Relena added.

"Well, if you ever snag Heero we can pair off in lots of different ways then."

"I didn't say I agreed to it."

"Oh, it makes you uncomfortable?"

"Wufei watching me on closed circuit television is bad enough."

"Oh, yes, he showed me that one."

"He WHAT?"

"Would you like another sedative?"

"These people do not work for me," Une muttered, opening the door. "My officers are not sex-crazed."

"Oh, that reminds me," Sally exclaimed with exaggerated innocence. "Trowa called. He says he's found some, but he's not sure what size or speed setting. I didn't know what he was talking about, and he wouldn't tell me. He wants you to call him back."

"Thank you. And have a press release ready for the evening news." Une's voice was brittle, and two spots of red burned high on her cheeks. She slammed the door behind her as she stalked out, every line of her body radiating offended dignity.

Relena and Wufei stared wide-eyed at the still vibrating door then simultaneously turned startled curious eyes to an innocently smiling Sally.

"What was that about? Are they-?"

"I DON'T want to know."

Sally laughed. "I couldn't say anyway. One of them is an ex-military dominatrix who had a split personality. The other is an acrobat and former mercenary. They can probably come up with things to do in the bedroom that I couldn't even begin to imagine." She beckoned to Wufei and patted Relena's foot companionably. "You rest and try to relax. We'll be right outside the door if you need us . . . trying to flesh out the details to give the press." She winked suddenly. "And I was just kidding about the threesome. There are some things I refuse to share. Wufei's one of them."

* * *

Relena shifted restlessly on the stiff hospital mattress. Sally had kept her sedated for so long that she was finding true sleep to be elusive. It hardly helped that she kept envisioning that moment on the podium when she first saw the gunman, when she suddenly knew without any evidence that it was Wufei, that Wufei had set out to deliberately hurt her. And then Heero's face . . . his face would haunt her for a time to come. His eyes, oh God, his eyes . . .

At the soft click of the door handle turning, she stiffened like a guilty child caught doing something forbidden. She immediately slumped and narrowed her eyes into thin slits, pretending to be asleep for the nurses so she would not be a burden to them and they would not feel obligated to keep her company. However, the black figure that slipped in against the light of the hallway was most certainly not a nurse. Relena's pulse quickened, and she held her breath, one hand inching unobtrusively beneath the bedcovers for the panic button.

And then the figure stepped into the brighter gloom filtering through the window, and the shadowed light flowed familiarly over hard cheekbones and unruly hair.

"Heero?"

Her voice froze him in place for the slightest second, and then he came to her bedside in one swift smooth movement, too measured and graceful for a lunge but too quickly to be anything else.

He crouched at her side, his eyes staring into her own from only inches away with an expression she could not read. And then, abruptly and wordlessly, he closed the space between them, sealing his lips to hers as one of his hands tangled in the hair at the back of her head and dragged her closer. Relena froze, startled and slightly unsettled by this new and unexpected development, by the sudden rush of warmth and sensation, her mind so muddled by the combination of drugs and surprise that she did not have time to respond before he pulled away.

Heero stared at her silently for a long moment, still clutching her hair. She wet her lips nervously.

"Hee-"

"If you ever pull away from me like that again I will shoot you myself."

Her lips parted in the faintest of wry smiles. It would probably be a good idea to keep the identity of the gunman a secret from Heero. It would certainly be beneficial to Wufei's continued good health if nothing else.

"I'm sor-"

"Damn it, Relena, stop apologizing to me!"

She flinched away from his sudden vehemence and searched the shadows of his eyes, a puzzled crease breaking the smooth line of her brow. " What?"

"Do you know how many times you've said that in the last month? Stop. I don't deserve it."

She felt her temper flare even through the calming haze of the drugs. "Yes, you do!"

"No, I don't."

"I've treated you horribly."

"I treated you worse."

"No, you didn't!"

"Yes, I did!" He raked his hands through his hair and stood up. "I'm not arguing with you about this. Move."

"What?"

"Move over."

Relena snarled under her breath and turned her head away. He could be so infuriating-deliberately debasing himself before her and then ordering her around. "Surely you could be gentler with a wounded woman," she sniffed archly.

Her annoyance turned to wonder as his laughter rang softly in her ears. "I've read your chart, Relena." His hand slipped from her hair in a sliding caress along her cheek. "You may be sore, but you're not wounded. If you hadn't been wearing that vest . . ." His eyes lit with renewed intensity. "Damn it, Relena, **move over**."

She shifted slowly to one side of the bed, feeling the safety rails press against her back as he climbed in beside her. They lay on their sides, facing each other and carefully keeping the few inches of available mattress between them.

Relena swallowed nervously. "Now what?"

"Don't you want to talk?" he questioned with maddening composure, looking completely comfortable at being crammed into a hospital bed with her. "You usually want to talk. You enjoy it."

"Now?"

"Is there something else you'd rather do?" Unexpected humor laced his tone. "Your physical condition won't allow you to do much else, will it?"

She did not respond, and she did not have to. The blood rapidly pooling in her cheeks made speech unnecessary. He was deliberately flustering her! If there was one thing she had least expected during this clandestine encounter it was that.

Heero propped himself up on his arms and stared down at her, the corners of his eyes crinkled with interest. "Will you answer a question for me?"

"I . . . don't know how logical my answer might be."

"An illogical explanation is better than an unanswered question." /P

"Then ask," she murmured, her heart racing.

"You don't touch me. You make a conscious effort not to touch me. Why?"

Her breath hitched, and she lurched back against the bed rails, automatically increasing the distance between them. "I don't deserve to. I don't have the right," she rasped, panic touching her eyes.

He stared at her for a long moment, then closed his eyes and sighed. "We already went through this, Relena."

"I still don't," she gritted stubbornly, folding her arms across her chest in an unconscious illustration of her point. "And I'm not going to unless I know that you really want me to."

"And how will you know?"

"I just will."

"Under Preventer guidelines casual touching between coworkers is perfectly accept-"

"We've never touched each other casually, Heero. Never. This is hardly the time to start," she interrupted him with a coldness that was uncharacteristic.

"Will there ever be a correct time?"

"I don't know."

"Then it's up to me to make the first move?"

"I guess that is what I'm saying, yes, Heero."

"I'll keep that in mind."

He sat up and swung his legs off the side of the bed. Relena watched him silently. This was it? He was leaving? Just like that? Heero turned back and gazed at her without speaking for a moment. His hand rose and hovered over her cheek in a phantom caress, and she closed her eyes to keep from moving into his touch. When she opened them he was gone.

* * *

"Obsession with the Vice Foreign Minister's love life has gone too far," Relena read aloud, balancing a half eaten bagel in her free hand. "It is unreasonable to expect such an attractive young woman to remain single forever, and it is unconscionable to allow attacks on her person to occur simply because she indulges in the same romantic actions as the rest of the populace. It's time to take her off the pedestal and bring her down to the rest of us where she has always wished to be." /P

"Who cares if Relena is having sex with escort boys?" Wufei read back to her, laughter choking his voice. "At least she's getting some. It's a dark day for humanity when having a dead ambassador is considered better than having one who is no longer a virgin."

"They're years too late for that anyway," Relena commented absently, nibbling at her bagel as she stretched her free hand towards the stack of unread newspapers and magazines in the center of the table.

Wufei's eyebrows rose curiously but Sally's entrance with his beloved coffee drew his attention away from Relena.

"The public opinion polls are showing a complete turnaround," Sally remarked as she poured cups for her two companions before settling down at the breakfast table with them. "You terrified them, Wufei. Now they're desperately afraid of losing her and praying that she **won't** resign because of the way they've treated her."

"I can't believe they're so fickle," Relena sighed, picking up another paper with a picture of Heero cradling her head as she sprawled on the speaking platform emblazoning the front page. She stared at his bereft expression sadly. "No, I can believe it. I just don't want to."

"Have you heard from Heero yet?" Sally questioned as she batted her husband away from her breakfast.

"Of course. He sneaked into my room in the middle of the night. And nothing happened," she added emphatically, shooting a killing glare at Wufei who obediently reconsidered the comment he was about to make and shut his mouth though his eyebrows remained raised. "You knew those guards weren't going to deter him for very long. If he really wanted to see me no force on earth could have stopped him."

"But you needed your rest. And he did have his official duty to report to Une. You are going to take him back, aren't you?" Sally prodded.

"Yeah." Relena smiled sadly. "I've been thinking a lot lately . . . not that there was much else to do with the way you kept drugging me. He told me to think about it, you know. So I have. Somewhere along the way and among all the death threats and espionage and war, I fell in love with him. And I understand why he reacted the way he did to me. He's never been able to trust anyone because everyone that he's ever known has used him. I wasn't really any different in his eyes. He thought I used him as a sex toy, one of many actually, and it hurt him to think that I considered him a just a tool like everyone else had."

"You're being awfully forgiving," Wufei observed. "He hurt you too."

"You're being awfully vindictive, Wufei," she mimicked. "It's all the more reason to end the cycle. Heero and I have discussed it already anyway." She stood up, gracefully smoothing out her skirt and jacket, and extended her hands to Wufei and Sally. "Come, dearest friends. We have a press conference to attend. Incidentally, you did a wonderful job with the press. Would you consider handling my PR permanently?"

* * *

Relena eyed the crowd awaiting her with far less trepidation than she had had for weeks. The turnout was phenomenal. People had come to ensure for themselves that she was indeed alive and well and planning to keep her position. Several other prominent delegates had even offered apologies for their lack of support regarding her previous treatment. She felt alive, truly, fully alive, and in her element. The crowd would be hers, one member of it in particular. She was offering herself up on a silver platter for their love, their ridicule, whatever they would choose to give her. But **he** was the only one that really mattered.

"Thank you all for coming here today. While our relationship these past few weeks has been strained, to put it mildly, I hope we can resolve our differences and turn to more important matters. A great deal has been said recently regarding my personal life, much of it extremely hurtful. And while I had always hoped that as long as what I did in my private life had no direct bearing on my office or my performance of my duties that my privacy would be respected, I see now that my hopes were naive. It saddens me, yes, but I understand your concern that the exploits you believe me to participate in, such as those spread in such graphic detail by the tabloids, show me as unfit to be your representative. Therefore, I called the conference today to honestly answer any questions you may have. After today there will be no reason to believe the rumors because you will know the truth."

A stunned hush fell on the crowd of onlookers for a few brief moments before the press surged forward eagerly, waving their microphones and barraging her with questions.

"One at a time please," Relena called out laughingly over the din.

"Nightclub photo: real or fabricated?"

"Real actually. It was taken during the bachelorette party of a dear friend of mine."

"Why'd you do it?"

"Because she wanted me to, and it was her special night. People do odd things to make their friends happy."

"Did you sleep with him?"

"The man in the picture? No, of course not."

"Have you ever used an escort service?"

She smiled cheekily. "Beyond the Preventer guards who are assigned to escort me to events . . . no. Surely you don't think it would be **that** difficult for me to find a date!"

A roar of embarrassed laughter filled the open air.

"Are you in a relationship with someone now?"

Relena sobered, biting her lip. "I was, I want to be again, but the accusations and the strain of living under them made maintaining it nearly impossible."

The crowd shifted guiltily, looking away from her and refusing to meet one another's eyes.

"I have always been monogamous," Relena continued a little unsteadily. "There has only been one man in my life that I've ever wanted. And I just want him to know that. That there was never anyone else. But his lack of faith in me hurt far more than anything you," here she gestured at the press, "have ever done or said about me. And no relationship can last without trust. I am very much in love. I wish he was in love with me." She turned away. "No more questions, please."

* * *

"I think that that was one of your more brilliant diplomatic moves," Wufei muttered to her as they ducked into the car.

Relena sighed and burrowed into the upholstery. "I just hope it's effective. I don't think I can do it again."

"Did you see him?" Sally asked, locking the door firmly behind her as she slid in. "His face . . . I don't have the words to describe it. It was that amazing and intense. Can someone simultaneously be elated and devastated?"

"He'd never be elated. His face couldn't manage the amount of smiling that would require."

"Wufei, shut up!"

"So do you think it worked? Do you think he got the message?" Relena pleaded, leaning forward eagerly.

"Short of bashing his head open and tattooing it directly onto his brain I don't think you could make it any clearer." Sally flipped her braids over her shoulders and sighed. "It's what he decides to do with the information that really matters."

* * *

"It seems he's decided to do absolutely nothing with it," Relena growled as she plopped into her office chair.

Wufei shot her a disgruntled glare over the top of his morning coffee. "Get over it, Darlian."

"How can you be so callous?"

"Quite simple really. I've had a great deal of practice and have gotten very good at it. And you need to be a little callous too since you have an appointment with him this afternoon."

"WHAT?"

"Worm, come inform the Minister of today's appointments!" Wufei bellowed in the general direction of the outer office.

Her personal assistant shuffled in warily, keeping as much distance as possible between himself and the Preventer agent. He looked decidedly skittish as he read from his scheduling book. "Cabinet meeting at nine that is expected to last until eleven, afterwards an appointment with a designer Montaigne to discuss theme for the upcoming gala-not to exceed one hour, lunch with Lady Felton, meeting with Dr. Brookheimer of Brookheimer Industries at two, at four meeting with Preventer Agent Hiroshi Yugen to discuss changing of the guard-"

"What 'changing of the guard'?" Relena whirled on Wufei. "I might have been born royalty, but I am not a monarch! What changing of the guard?"

He contrived to look put-upon and offended. "Sally and I would like to have a honeymoon. You and Une both approved time off for it, remember? Une appointed Yuy-Yugen excuse me, all those Japanese names sound the same-as head of the Vice Foreign Minister's security staff in my absence."

"Yes," Ben piped in, "you're to meet with him today to discuss implanting some new security measures."

"Oh, really? Lovely," she moaned weakly, burying her head in her hands.

"You, out," Wufei ordered Ben, who immediately fled with a yelp. He crossed to Relena, crouching in front of her chair and pulling her hands away from her face. "This is what you wanted, remember?"

"No, it isn't! Not this! Not a business meeting!" she spat the words as though they were distasteful.

"Well, it's what you have. Work with it."

"This is a conspiracy."

"Everything is. Look, you started the game with Yuy, and it's gone on long enough. Someone has to end it. Une is just making sure all the players are in their appropriate positions."

"You'd better be referring to chess," she muttered, twisting out of his grip. "And where will you be, Wufei? Sitting at a monitor somewhere watching again?"

"Someone has to do it."

"You sick, deranged, perverted voyeuristic pig."

"You should have considered that before you began demanding favors." He smirked. "And I'm not any more horrible than you are, 'Queen Relena .'"

"I can't believe I'm almost friends with you."

"Best friend," he corrected her mildly. "And I can't believe it either. And, if it makes you feel any better, I've turned all my cameras off. Yuy will have to turn them on again if he wants them. I won't be needing them since I'll be all alone in Hawaii with Sally. Now come on. Time to get going. I have a plane to catch."

* * *

Relena knocked on Heero's door and waited patiently, but no answer seemed forthcoming.

"I knew he didn't really want to see me or he would have contacted me personally," she reflected in a broken whisper. Her shoulders squared determinedly. "Too bad for him though because this is still business."

She turned the knob, feeling vaguely shocked that it opened so easily, and wondered if he had forgotten to lock it. Relena walked inside, feeling her shoes sink into the plush carpet where they had made love. Nostalgia and tears pricked sharply at her eyes. The room was just as spartan as she remembered it being, so very empty and impersonal. Extremely empty, in fact. Heero was nowhere to be found. She peered around as though expecting him to suddenly materialize in a corner and noticed another door that she had missed during the . . . excitement . . . of her previous visit to his office.

"Heero?" she called hesitantly.

"Just a minute," he answered, his voice muffled and disembodied.

Relena's heart give a jerk of mingled relief and disappointment, and she lifted her bag to her front so she could dig in it for a pen and writing pad. He was here. Business as usual. The other door opened while she was still occupied in the depths of her purse, and Relena glanced up sideways through her hair.

Makeup and various documents spilled from her bag as it hit the floor.

"Oh my god . . ."


	11. Intimacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the reader finds out exactly what it was that Relena saw in the last chapter and in which our wayward lovebirds make each other very _very_ happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter left to go! It will be up in about a week. Thanks for reading!

"Oh my god . . ."

The strangled whimper fell from her lips of its own accord, and she backed clumsily away from her fallen bag, away from him. Her heart lurched before it began galloping in her chest like a spooked horse and seemed to swell to far larger than its normal size, constricting her throat. Never in all her life had Relena been so aware of her own pulse, the rhythmic thumping that sent blood quickening through her body and flushing her skin a dusky rose. He stepped farther into the room, and she stumbled over her own feet as the supple slide of skin over toned muscle arrested her attention.

"Wait!"

Relena flung up one hand as though to ward him away even though there was still the length of the room between them, and he halted. With her blue eyes huge in her red face, she stared at him and at how he stood so loose and relaxed when she felt that her own body would soon shake itself into pieces from the tension quivering across her muscles.

"Heero . . . I . . . you . . . you . . ."

He tilted his head in polite inquiry as she stammered out a string of incoherent pronouns. "Yes, Relena?"

She blinked rapidly as the rough, undeniable masculinity and equally undeniable calmness of his voice curled around her. How could he sound so composed, so very normal in such a situation? A hysterical giggle pulled at her throat. "You're . . . you're rather . . . underdressed for a business meeting."

Something like a smile only far more dangerous flickered across his lips, and Relena's breath hitched as her pulse jumped with alarm. He resumed his leisurely walk toward her, stalking her as a great cat stalks its prey, and she shrank away from him as a thrill of fear and yet not fear blossomed in her stomach.

Each step of his advance led to one of her retreat though her steps grew smaller and smaller. Her fingers brushed over the surface of the door, and its sudden coldness against the sweaty heat of her hand nearly burned. She stopped, unable to withdraw any farther, and her right hand snaked up to rest uncertainly on the knob.

Relena trembled from the adrenaline singing through her veins and half longed to yank the door open and flee, but a sense of propriety--and of possession--stilled her hand. To be honest with herself she **_wanted_** him to chase her, wanted him to **_catch_** her. It was wrong of her; she knew it was, but that hardly mattered since she was likely to die of heart failure at any second.

Heero Yuy stood before her completely and unabashedly naked, with the dark glint of a predator shining in his eyes.

It was--no **_he_** was--astonishing, splendid, arousing.

Primal.

And unbelievably erotic.

She swallowed hard and moistened suddenly dry lips with a quick nervous flick of her tongue, heat flaring in her belly when saw his eyes darken and follow the movement. It was hard to breathe properly with the heat of his stare searing her through her clothes, and her breath escaped in ragged little pants as she averted her gaze and recited the proper courtesies, her eyes focused firmly on the expanse of bare wall beyond Heero's equally bare shoulder.

"I look forward to two weeks working--"

"Relena."

"--with you," she barged on determinedly as he stepped closer. "Despite our somewhat rocky history I hope we can create and maintain a civil and businesslike relationship."

"Relena."

Her voice wavered as he loomed so closely in front of her that she had to lift her gaze to the ceiling. "It--it's my understanding that there are some new security measures that you want to implement. Would you care to discuss them first?" she questioned breathlessly, internally cursing the mental strain required to attempt to salvage a situation she did not want to 'save.'

His right hand closed around her left, his fingers sliding caressingly up her knuckles and around the delicate blue veined skin of her wrist, and he removed her suddenly nerveless hand from its lax grip on the doorknob.

"Relena, look at me."

She closed her eyes and shook her head, smothering a whimper. Throwing herself at Heero was bad. Assaulting Heero and instructing him to systematically remove his clothes was bad. Not that **_that_** was an issue this time. However, she had promised not to do anything of the kind ever again unless she received an explicit open invitation. He had yet to issue one. Verbally anyway, and she refused to deal with the emotional turmoil that came with being unsure of his willingness again.

But he was making it very difficult to sustain her resolve.

He leaned over her, pinning her between the cool wall at her back and the harder living wall of his body, surrounding her and narrowing her world to nothing but him: his unadorned masculine scent, the heat radiating from his bare skin, the rhythmic puffs of air against her face as he breathed, the loose ring of his fingers about her wrist, the way she could feel his pulse beating in time to her own through his thumb, and the way the air grew heavy and charged between them so that she felt him even where he was not touching her.

His free hand skimmed feather light up her jaw line, sweeping loose strands of golden hair behind her ear, before flowing back down her cheek to curl loosely around her neck while his other hand slid in a languid caress up her arm up her arm to meet its fellow. She sighed as his thumbs gently pushed her chin upward, and he tilted her face, his mouth brushing against her earlobe and his breath whispering across the delicate skin.

"Why won't you look at me?"

Relena trembled and bit back a whimper. Her fists clenched tightly at her sides, nails leaving red crescents impressed into the skin of her palms, as she struggled with her desire to touch him.

"Damn it, Heero, you know why!" her voice emerged as little more than a strangled whisper.

His hands abruptly abandoned their cradling position on her neck and clamped onto her hips in a bruising grip, hauling her startled body flush against his. Her eyes flew upon in alarm. Relena had no time to resist as her feet left the floor, and he drove forward, slamming her back against the wall.

It did not hurt her so much as it startled and knocked the wind out of her, but she grunted and her hands clutched at him automatically for support. She stared into his eyes in such proximity to her own, and her stomach sank as she saw dark triumph bloom in their midnight depths as he watched her face, noting the exact instant she realized the position he had put them in.

"How much more of a first move do I have to make?" he questioned softly, his voice dark and rich with desire though a thread of wry exasperation ran through it.

She forced herself to ignore the warmth and the lean strength of him, the firm muscles beneath her hands, the feel of him nestled between her legs, his arousal pressing against her through the oh-so-inadequate barrier of her panties even as his hands proceeded to slide her skirt farther up her hips.

"How do I know this isn't some sort of test or payback?" she countered with more than a bit of shame. "I've given you more than enough reason for it."

She watched a curtain fall over his face, completely blanking his expression. His hands stilled and he lifted away from her the slightest bit. "We've had sex twice, Relena, and both times you've used it as a weapon against me."

His voice was flat. Emotionless.

"So now it's your turn?" she questioned, unable to keep the bitterness and self-loathing from her voice. Relena let her head fall back against the wall and blinked rapidly in an attempt to drive away the burning pressure building in the back of her eyes. "Fair enough."

"You are an impossible woman. It doesn't have to be that way."

Her head whipped back down and she stared at him, her mouth opening though no sound emerged. He gazed back at her, the veil over his expression evaporating as though it had never existed, and naked, tender emotion softened his features and lit his eyes from within. Her fingers tightened fractionally against the warm cords of muscle lining his shoulders as emotion churned her own blue eyes into a storm tossed sea.

"Then say it. Say you want this, Heero. You have to say it."

Heero lowered his head, burying it in the juncture of her neck and shoulder, and she hesitantly slipped one hand into his hair and tangled her fingers through the wild dark strands. He rolled his head to the side, nuzzling the lapels of her suit jacket, and sighed softly, his warm breath ruffling the material of her collar before rolling across the bare skin of her throat.

"This time, Relena . . . this time we make love."

Though his voice was soft and further muffled by his position, his mouth shaped each word against her skin. She inhaled sharply and quivered due to both his actions and his words. The significance of his phrasing had not escaped her, and a bubble of happiness bloomed in her chest and swelled against her throat. Her fingers tightened painfully against his scalp, and she swallowed heavily, her throat constricted in her joy, leaving her voice the tiniest of breathless squeaks.

"Do you mean that?"

He smiled against her neck and raised his head, brushing a kiss across her chin before pressing his forehead against hers. Staring at him then she was reminded sharply of the way he had looked at her on Libra years before. The same tenderness and longing touched with wry sadness softened the intense blue of his eyes. He practically glowed, and she wanted to hide her head in shame. She should have known already, had known it really, but both of them had expected more than the other could give.

"Let me show you."

The rough animalistic passion that had shoved her against the wall gave way to something softer, something deeper. Heero's lips sought hers as his fingers stroked small circles ever higher up the sensitive skin of her thighs, the material of her skirt hiking up with each movement of his hands. His mouth covered and caressed her own with exquisite tenderness, and she welcomed the sensual onslaught, curling her legs about his waist. By some miraculous feat he managed to press even more intimately against her, holding her up only with the press of his body against hers and freeing his hands. Relena moaned into his kiss as he rocked his hips against her lightly. He nipped at her lower lip before soothing the spot with an apologetic stroke of his tongue in a reluctant farewell.

As his mouth was forced to leave hers so that he could look down and concentrate on opening the myriad little buttons holding her suit jacket and shirt closed beneath his lascivious gaze (shouldn't it have melted off her by now?), she relaxed against the rapidly heating surface of the wall. Her hands roamed through his hair and across his shoulders and bare back restlessly, and she mourned that they had nothing better to devote their time to because Heero was already naked. Relena's mind slammed to a halt and focused on that thought. Replay. Heero. Naked. Coming for her. It was hopelessly erotic, and she moaned even before his mouth found the bare skin of her breasts.

He should never wear clothes again.

He murmured her name against her skin with each brush of his lips, and she melted as he took one proudly puckered nipple into the warmth of his mouth. An answering warmth and luxuriant ache rose between her legs, and Relena marveled in a dazed way at how perfectly the pleasure of one echoed the other.

She clung to him, practically defenseless, where he kept her pinned her against the wall. His fingers clawed at the waistband of her undergarments, and a thrill of ear shot down her spine when she heard cloth ripping and felt the material slide loosely off her hips. In all of her interactions she liked to be the one in control, the one with all the power. And now? Now she had nothing. No power, no leverage, nothing she could use to protect herself from him.

Nothing but the promise in his voice and eyes and hands.

It was enough.

She opened her eyes to find Heero gazing back at her with open concern. Her sudden stillness had distracted him from his attentions.

"Relena?"

"I love you," she blurted without conscious thought and gasped as the words registered. Of all the graceless ways to say it! Her cheeks burned in embarrassment, and she could see her skin reddening of the reflection of Heero's pupils.

The air hung awkward and heavy between them for several heartbeats.

Then . . .

"I know. You announced it to the world," he replied simply, though the sudden enthusiastic kiss he pressed on her lips belied his apparent nonchalance. He kissed her fiercely, possessively, strangely tenderly. He poured himself, all that he was and all that he was capable of being, into her mouth, freely and without inhibition, offering himself to her. He kissed her like she was rain on a parched man's lips, like she was his world, his life, his universe, his very soul, and she returned it in full measure.

Heero ripped himself from her mouth with a ragged groan, and a spike of liquid fire surged across Relena's nervous system as the hard hot length of him stroked across the sensitized skin between her legs. They could not wait any longer. The need had become too strong, had been repressed and denied for far too long. Heero grabbed her hips again, shifting her weight and dropping her down on himself.

The sudden sensation of instantaneous fullness and completion was startling, and Relena flung her head back, her mouth opening in a wordless wail that was quickly swallowed beneath the fervent attentions of Heero's skilled lips and tongue. He coaxed her into mindless passion with each slide of his skin against hers, each thrust and roll of his hips.

Relena locked her legs around his waist and clung to him tightly as he pounded into her. Heero dragged his mouth away from her as his breathing grew ragged with impending climax. Her hands fisted in his hair, clutching him to her as she showered kisses over every inch of skin within reach of her lips. They moved together in an ageless, primal dance, two partners who gave freely and took nothing other than what was given to them. And they gave everything.

Heero splintered in her arms, his body quaking against hers with as he threw himself into the blissful abyss, where nothing mattered but the feeling of wholeness, of completion, and with one beckoning stroke of his fingers against her core, she followed him.

Heero slumped bonelessly against her, and she slid down the wall a few inches before he caught her hips and steadied her. He scraped the side of her neck with his teeth, and she stroked his head idly as their mingled pants rang in the air. Relena was finding it quite difficult to breathe properly herself and tilted her head back, letting the office lights illuminate the backs of her eyelids.

"Relena, we need to sit down. Now."

She chuckled weakly and felt his breath hitch. It was a most unique feeling to laugh with him inside her. Not unpleasant, simply odd.

"Then you'll have to let go of me so I can get down."

He stroked his hands down the length of her thighs as she unlocked her ankles from about his waist. "What makes you think I'll ever let go of you again?"

She did not answer immediately as the problem of finding her equilibrium and staying on her all too wobbly legs as he withdrew from her and eased her to the carpet was more pressing. It gratified her to note that his own legs were trembling and he dropped to the floor as soon as he was able, though not before catching her hand and yanking her down to sprawl across his chest.

Relena rubbed her cheek along one firm pectoral as he dedicated his attention to completely removing her extremely wrinkled and very open and indecent dress suit. He was warm and covered with a light sheen of sweat. He smelled wonderful, fresh sweat and the musk of sex overlying something clean and natural, so very male, so very primal, so very Heero. She absently traced her lips over his skin and sighed.

"I won't always be able to stay, you know."

His hands did not pause on their self-appointed task to divest her of the remainder of her clothing but they did slow.

"My job, my duties, won't just go away," she continued quietly. "I won't always be able to stay. I **_will_** have to leave you. But I'll come back. I'll always come back."

He brushed her hair out of her eyes and pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead. The simplicity and depth of meaning behind the gesture brought tears to her eyes.

"What a masculine thing to say. Isn't that my line?" His lips twitched as he dashed the tears from her lashes. "But you'll stay this time," he added firmly, sweeping his fierce gaze in a pointed declaration from her to the myriad tiny buttons that he had ripped from her clothes and that were currently littering the carpeting.

Her lips quirked wryly. "I suppose I'll have to. What are you going to do about my clothes, Heero?"

"Keep you out of them as long as possible," he remarked blandly, suddenly rolling and pulling her beneath him. He sat back slowly and crouched between her parted legs, staring down at her exposed form hungrily. Her stomach tightened as he slowly and deliberately stroked the delicate skin just above her stockings. "These can stay though."

"Heero . . ."

His intent and all too meaningful gaze pinned her in place. "We have a lot of catching up to do, Relena."

"I'm ready if you are," she replied, trying for nonchalant but ending up breathy.

His expression changed subtly, and his eyes darkened. "I can see that."

"Heero!" she gasped, coming out of her daze enough to be outraged.

He grinned most boyishly at her, and that was enough to startle her into silence as he settled his weight comfortably over her.

"We were going to discuss security," he reminded her.

" ** _Now_**?" she moaned as he laved his devotion along the exposed column of her throat.

His hands twined with hers, raising them above her head and pushing them flat to the floor as he urged her legs wider with a few wriggling nudges of his hips. "That incident was upsetting. A reoccurrence of it or any other assaults," he punctuated with a nip, "on your person should be prevented at all costs."

"What--Ohhhhh--What do you suggest?"

"I should move in with you."

And suddenly he was inside her again, warm and full, and she sighed contentedly, throwing her head back and arching her body into his. It was like coming home, and she struggled to move her hips against his but he kept her pinned and stayed unmoving within her. She could see the strain and concentration the lack of movement was causing him and writhed more determinedly. His hands left hers to brace his weight on the floor, and she was proceeding to wind her arms triumphantly around his neck when the flash of light on metal distracted her.

She stared at the simple golden band and single small diamond sparkling on her left ring finger. Where he had managed to hide it when he had been naked the whole time and, for that matter, how long it had been on her finger without her noticing, she would never know. But there were other, more important, things occupying her attention at the time.

"Was that . . . was that a proposal?"

"Yes or no, Relena?"

"You're not on your knees."

"This is better." And to emphasize his point, he withdrew and pushed in again with aching slowness.

She closed her eyes and gasped at the splendid friction. "Not fair to ask now. Compulsion. Duress."

"Turnabout," he countered.

Another slow thrust.

"Touche," she moaned.

"I want power of attorney, Relena. Sally's never going to be able to keep me away from you again," he labored through the syllables, eyes heavy but locked with her own.

"Do you love me?"

Her words had quite a powerful effect on him. He quivered, slamming into her with a hard thrust as his control frayed. His nostrils flared and his eyes burned. " ** _Yes_** ," he hissed, his hold on her tightening with a need that was almost savage in his intensity.

She smiled tremulously and pulled his face to hers. "Then yes," she breathed against his mouth, her hips meeting his as Heero let himself go and their tempo increased. "Yes, yes, yes. Always. Ye~es!"


	12. Afterglow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the final curtain falls and this story comes to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for all of your patience and support over the last year. It's been a long and sometimes painful road to make it to this point, but now-finally-this story is complete. This story has given me more laughs and more tears than anything else I've ever written, and while I'm sad to see it ended I'm also extremely relieved. I'll be devoting my time now to finishing up all my unposted oneshots before moving on to officially resurrecting Numina.
> 
> Thanks for all the entertaining, insightful, and encouraging reviews and a special thanks for those wonderful people who supported me when I was thinking of just chucking this thing (you know who you are and I love you all for it).
> 
> Thanks for sticking around long enough to see this thing out, and I hope you enjoy the way I've chosen to end it-in a sense back where the story began. Kinda. Sorta. LOL It's all about the porno.
> 
> If I have managed to make you smile even once then this endeavor was a success.
> 
> Happy Reading!

The low constant drone of conversation mingled with the sharper clink of glassware as Wufei maneuvered his way through the crowd of well dressed people that thronged the reception hall. He met Heero's gaze from across the room and inclined his head briefly in acknowledgment, but Heero was not his current objective. **She** was.

Relena turned to him, a smile lighting her face when he gently gripped her elbow. She excused herself from the group of delegates around her with polite and apologetic murmurs and waved at them as she walked away on the arm of the Preventer officer.

"You look awfully smug," she drawled wryly as Wufei swung her out onto the dance floor.

"Just admiring a job well done," he smirked back at her. "You're even going to get that sappy romantic television special that you wanted."

She frowned at him, but laughter still sparkled in her eyes. "I'm not sure it was worth all the trouble." She stepped closer to him as they twirled between the other dancers, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's difficult to admit how stupid and blind we all were."

"Speak for yourself, woman," he shot back, spinning them with practiced grace across the floor.

"Heero and I then," she mumbled into his jacket.

"Was it worth it?" he asked quietly, and she pulled back to stare into his serious dark eyes.

Her brow furrowed as her gaze strayed unconsciously to the two rings adorning her left hand, and she glanced down at her simple pale pink gown. A much darker pink stain spread across her cheeks.

"Yes, yes it was!" she responded in a breathless rush, clinging to him tightly as he dipped and pulled her back upright.

He frowned at her. "I expected better from you. You're groping . . . for words," he finished with a teasingly malicious glint in his eyes as she staggered away from him, staring bewilderedly from her hands to his body. "Were you afraid I was referring to something else?"

Relena glared at him as he laughed quietly at her discomfort. She stepped forward, white skirts swishing around both their legs, putting herself toe to toe and nose to nose with him as she hissed, "I'm oversexed, Wufei. You should know that. You've certainly implied it enough even when you haven't said it outright. And all this ceremony is delaying my honeymoon!"

"Leave then," he replied calmly, pulling her back into the steps of the dance as curious gazes settled on their still, confrontational forms among a sea of graceful movement. "You just have to run away like Sally and I did and forget all those silly little obligations you leave behind. And don't worry, they'll be waiting for you when you get back."

Her eyes narrowed. "I still haven't forgiven you for that. 'Last minute travel preparations,' huh? Do you make it a habit to shoot people before reserving your plane tickets?"

"No," he replied with great solemnity. "I always get the tickets in advance."

She grumbled wordlessly at him, and he laughed.

"Just leave, Darlian. It's **your** day, not dance-with-a-diplomat-because-you-feel-obligated-to day. They already get the other three hundred sixty four."

"It wouldn't be proper."

"Nothing about any of this has been proper. Why start now? And once upon a time the newlyweds left directly after the ceremony. The reception can party just fine without you, and everyone already knows what you're going off to do."

"You disgust me."

"Except when it's to your convenience to have me around and use me," he agreed cheerfully. "If you're going to be so insistent on propriety, however . . . I haven't received my kiss from the bride yet."

She flushed and averted her eyes, her fingers tightening on his hand. "That's hardly my fault. You've had plenty of chances."

He chuckled, slowing their movements to a gentle sway. "You were never married before. I did not once take advantage of you or your honor . . . even when you threw yourself at me."

"So it's okay now that I'm a married woman? Wufei, you're a-" she began, but he pressed his finger over her mouth.

"Now, however, it's only fair to see what I've been missing."

Her eyes drifted closed of their own accord as he leaned down and gently, chastely brushed his lips across hers.

"Tradition?" she asked very softly when he pulled away.

"Tradition," he agreed, smiling at her beatifically.

"Because you just started the office betting pool going again," she added wryly, inclining her head at the ring of wide-eyed watchers surrounding them, some armed with notepads and calculators.

His eyes softened into soulful, limpid black pools as he clutched her hands to his tuxedo clad heart. "They were so disappointed when you announced your engagement and they discovered I was already married. I can't bear to see them with nothing left to believe in, nothing to speculate on. It would be unjust," he responded mournfully. His eyes flicked over her shoulder to where a stern, impassive Heero approached with a giggling and very pregnant Sally draped on his arm as he added with a devilish smirk, "Just making life interesting."

The Preventer staff looked from one mismatched couple to another, confusion evident on their faces and eager speculation lightening their eyes.

"You are evil," Relena muttered to her dance partner and former bodyguard.

"Of course," he responded, slipping his hand into his jacket pocket. "Just wait until you see what I got you as a wedding gift."

Relena glanced down at the two plainly packaged videodisks he pressed into her heads. She blinked, suspicion curling through her mind, and her lips trembled as she raised them slowly and deciphered the small type on the plastic cases.

Call Me Queen Volume 2: Enter the Dragon and Call Me Queen Volume 25: Phoenix Rising.

"Something old and something new," he taunted her under his breath. "Though I think you'll like the latest one better than the second."

Her shoulders began to shake and tears filled her eyes as she grabbed his tie and jerked his mouth to hers. She kissed him resoundingly, peals of laughter bubbling in her throat as delighted tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Here's to the memories. I love you, Wufei," she managed to gasp between giggles and whirled around, pulling Sally into a hug and pressing her lips to the other woman's cheeks. "I love you too."

Then she turned to where her brand new and somewhat uncertain husband awkwardly stood, flanked by a ring of gawking onlookers. She raised her skirt with one hand as she walked toward him, effectively concealing the disks from the crowd, and placed her free hand over Heero's heart. "But not like I love you. Never like I love you," she whispered with a smile, hooking her fingers in his jacket and pulling him to her.

Cheers erupted from the now thoroughly confused crowd as the Vice Foreign Minister kissed her new husband quite passionately. Flashbulbs with off in a cascading strobe light as members of the press jockeyed fiercely for the best shot of this modern romantic fairytale while several audience members eyed their significant others with significant interest as Relena's hands slipped into Heero's back pockets. His hands curled around her hips through the thick layers of her wedding gown, and he lifted her against him.

"What an obscene display," Wufei muttered, encircling Sally with his arms and possessively stroking her rounded belly.

She hummed in agreement and rubbed her head against his shoulder, lightly kissing his neck. "They'll make perfect godparents."

And somewhere across the room a certain escort service card toting female diplomat looked with on with jealous eyes as the eager masses parted to allow Heero to walk rather unsteadily for the door, his bride still clinging to his front and showering kisses across every inch of skin she could reach. Then a glass fell from nerveless fingers quite close to her, shattering on the floor and dousing her carefully chosen and very expensive dress with champagne. She glared coldly at the young bespectacled blond man who had flung himself on his knees and was pawing at the spreading stain with a napkin while babbling apologies.

She tangled her fingers in his hair and jerked his head up, staring down into his startled eyes with the same predatory gaze he recalled on Relena. "Come with me, boy. You are going to pay for that, and I am going to take it out of your hide."

And poor Benjamin Kyle Johnson did not know whether to rejoice or to cry.


End file.
